At the end of last year we opened up our applications for Charity of The Year 2021.
Coming back into the office in January we didn’t expect to see such a huge amount of applications and nominations. Over 50 charities were put forward by themselves or their friends.
Covid-19 has hit many charities over the last year, hindering their opportunities for fundraising and lots of them have had to adapt to online strategies in order to continue supporting those who need them. The only issue with going online is the available in house resources they have to do this efficiently and effectively.
This is why out of the 50 charities that submitted applications, we could not just pick one charity to help. We had three charities that stood out to us.
We are delighted to announce that we will be working with the following charities in 2021:
In no particular order…
Bath City Farm
Bath City Farm exists to support and empower disadvantaged members of the community. They provide educational and skill-based courses, volunteering opportunities and targeted projects that are designed to help people combat issues of ill-health, social isolation or unemployment. Bath City Farm also runs free events, school visits, specialist placements for school-age pupils and educational courses and workshops in nature and farming.
- Their aims and objectives are to:
- Support people to develop new skills and passions.
- Build people’s self-confidence and reduce loneliness.
- Boost emotional, mental, physical and social well-being.
- Provide people with meaningful activities and training opportunities.
- Grow the number of people engaging in their community.
We are really excited to be working with Bath City Farm. They are an essential part of the Bath community and a lot of our team are a big fan of their work.
Mentoring Plus
Mentoring Plus works with young people facing challenges, this might be connected to family, school, mental health etc. They match mentors (trained in house) with a young person for a year-long relationship. They arrange to meet once a week or so, doing things together and getting talking.
The result of their work is incredible and the figures speak for themselves:
- 100% of mentees last year reported they felt happier and more content.
- 96% reported improved self esteem in the last year.
- 100% Had improved family relationships
- 100% Of mentees are able to behave better
- Last year, 95% had no interaction with the youth justice system
- Nearly half of those going on to college, training or employment did so with direct help from their mentors.
- Most feel better about their community and learn their own contribution to it is valued.
Mentoring Plus play a prevalent role in the progression of our community and we can’t wait to help them with the work they do with young people.
SARAID Community Resilience Team
The SARAID Community Resilience Team are a self-funded group of trained volunteers who share a common purpose – to assist their wider community if called upon in times of need. They operate and liaise with first responders in times of crisis and are trained by the fire, police, and local authorities.
Examples of deployment include:
- Vulnerable Person Checks – During the Pandemic
- Lowland Search and Rescue
- River and Harbour Patrols – Promoting the RLSS Don’t Drink and Drown campaign
- Flood Response
- Incident Welfare Centre
- Helping Bristol Water to manage the distribution of water following a burst water main
Whilst public services have been stretched due to the pandemic, SARAID CRT’s work is more important than ever and we’re glad to be supporting them.
As you may be able to tell, there’s a big theme of community in our chosen charities. Whilst the world has stayed apart for almost a year now, community has remained so important. Not everyone has immediate access to a great support network but these charities provide safe places and essential services to those in need.
We will keep you posted with the projects we will be working on with our Charities of the year, but in the meantime please go and find out more about the work they do on their websites (linked in their descriptions), they really are incredible!
