Together for 30 Five Star Supporter Awards - Kate

Last week I finally got to deliver the last of our Five Star Supporter Awards. I joined one of our cooking sessions at St Marks and St Cuthbert's Church in South Shields to meet with the group there and to deliver an award to the Vicar Kate Boardman who they had nominated.

Danielle our Community Coordinator told me:

“We met Kate on a rainy Tuesday afternoon looking for a craft session that was being held at a local church. Kate welcomed us with open arms and after finding out we we’re looking for somewhere to host our cooking sessions invited us to use their amazing facilities. She is always enthusiastic about holding inclusive events for the people we support alongside the members of her congregation and has helped to create a fantastic community partnership that benefits us all.”

Typically modest, Kate was keen to downplay the impact she’s had for the people we support but our staff weren’t about to let her get away with it! They told me in no uncertain terms what a difference it has made to people to know they can be part of the church community and to feel so safe and welcomed; as an example, several of the people we work with now attend the craft sessions run by the church with no support from ourselves.

Delivering this award marks the end of our Together for 30 campaign. I wanted take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all the staff, volunteers, supporters and people who use our services who got involved. We raised an amazing £5107 which is fantastic considering this is the first time we’ve ever run a campaign like this! What’s been so heart-warming has been the range of activities that people have undertaken with friends, family and colleagues. From sponsored walks to bike rides it’s been so inspiring to see people supporting each other to take part and to connect after what has been a difficult period of isolation for many of us. I’ve felt privileged to join some these activities and to see how people have pushed themselves, and with their support I was able to double my own personal target of travelling 30 miles!

As an organisation it’s our firm belief that helping people connect to, and be part of, community life brings about a lasting change that benefits our society in many ways. The funds we’ve raised will help us to continue to connect people, for example we’ll be using some of the funds to run activities that will help to connect some of our most isolated clients during the Christmas period. Finding ways to bring people together who would normally spend Christmas day on their own is just one of the ways our fantastic staff and volunteers will continue to make a difference on a daily basis. Your support makes this possible. Thank you.

- Dave Woolley, CEO