NEWSLETTER #1
10th May 2021
Come as you are, give what you can and take what you need ...
A Message from our Hub Manager - Emma
"Thank you for signing up to receive information about the Community Hub. It's great to know that so many of you want to be kept informed. Many of you also signed up for volunteering which is brilliant!
We had a fantastic response to the community survey that we recently carried out – almost 700 responses in total from both individuals and professional organisations/support groups. This equates to approximately 10% of the homes we targeted which is a great result.
A few main themes have emerged from the survey responses, so our focus now is on addressing these themes and making sure we are ready for opening our doors sometime in the summer. There is a lot to do and we’re excited and slightly daunted in equal measure!
In the next few weeks, I will be contacting those of you who signed up for admin/general support and greeting/reception. Please keep an eye on your inbox for this."
DIGGING DAY - SATURDAY 15th MAY
You may be aware that we have a garden at The Keepers - it is small but has lots of potential! Our hope is that it will be a community garden where people can be involved in weeding, planting, picking, meeting others and/or just sitting.
There are narrow strips along a path where we could build and plant up some accessible, raised beds and a heap of soil (probably left when they built the clinic here) which we could plant up (or rediscover the plants there already), and lay some steps with a path up to a bench. If you saw the space you would need to use your imagination because apart from the path and the heap none of this exists yet and realistically wont for a few months yet!!
But every plan starts with the first step - or the first spade full!
We are having our first volunteer digging day on Saturday 15th if you fancy joining us.
We have divided the day into hour slots - so volunteers can sign up for an hour between 10a.m - 4p.m. We will then know who to expect and be appropriately distanced. It will be a time to dig but also a time to talk about the garden - it will be great to share ideas.
You will need to bring your own tools (and any refreshments - sorry we cant provide these at the moment due to COVID restrictions). If you don't have tools, please let us know and we can bring you something.
It would be great to meet you - and have you join the dig. Please let Gail know if you would like to come, and which time slot would suit you, by emailing thekeepersrecruitment@gmail.com
If gardening doesn't interest you - please feel free to visit the garden when you come to the Keepers for something else and see what progress has been made. Just don't visit too soon!
WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS' LOBBY
We have a recycling corner!
Do you have any bras, stamps, Tassimo pods or jewellery you are looking to recycle?
Would you like to swap a book? You can just come and borrow one – you don’t have to swap!
The Keepers is open on Mondays 8.30-11.00a.m and Thursdays 3.00-6.00p.m for you to drop off your items.
Over the next few months, we are planning to be open more regularly – WATCH THIS SPACE!
JOIN OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
We have an opportunity for 3 volunteers to join the Community Hub Board of Trustees to help shape our work at this exciting stage of our development. Email thekeepersrecruitment@gmail.com to get an application pack or to ask any questions you have about the roles.
Details in the advert below!!
INTRODUCING FREDA!
You may have seen recently that we had asked people on our Facebook page to help "Name our Freezer"
Thank you to everyone who suggested a name and voted. Meet Freda the Freezer!
The freezer is open on Mondays (8.30-11.00a.m) and Thursdays (3.00-6.00p.m) - except on Bank holidays.
Come and select a frozen, healthy meal and pay as you feel.
This is open to the WHOLE community. Those who pay a bit more help to support those who aren't able to pay at this time.
WHAT WE ACHIEVED TOGETHER
We decided to close Wotton Area Mutual Aid (WAMA) at the end of April. So many of you were involved in so many ways, we thought it would be good to give you a final round-up of all that was achieved. We obviously reflect with sadness that this help was needed, but celebrate the power of community and how we were able to respond:
BOXES
12,300 meals were delivered in 623 boxes.
Craft kits and Christmas treats were added into our Christmas boxes.
Recipe Cards were included in our Winter Warmer and Easter 2021 boxes. A total of 22 easy-to-follow recipes were produced and still available.
SOUP
1,750 portions of soup were delivered by 3 or more regular volunteers each week, in conjunction with the Wotton Baptist Church. This was achieved by using mainly locally donated produce - cooked by local chefs volunteering their time.
FREEZER OF LOVE
470 meals were“bought” between December and April in open sessions hosted by 4 volunteers each week.
WAMA SUPPORT
A group of WAMA administrators answered emails, phone calls and Facebook messages from people seeking support over 282 days, 2 on each shift between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday (and Saturday and Sunday for the first 6 months!).
PRESCRIPTIONS
More than 600 prescriptions were delivered by a regular team of 8 volunteers, 6 days a week.
GOWNS
393 gowns with 124 laundry bags were delivered to 18 community organisations including care homes, surgeries and dental practices. All made by 35 Sewists. Any surplus material was put to good use; one of our sewists made bicolour gowns for St Rose's School from the remnants. Another sewist then converted the scraps into aprons and scrub hats.
We made gowns and the laundry bags from donated rainbow fabric and the rest of that was made into masks, raising approximately £4,000 for Longfield.
YOGA
Around 50 people attended the 24 Yoga and Chair Yoga classes
LINKED BY LETTERS
11 people got involved in this initiative
What else did our volunteers sign up to do?
In addition to the above, responded to over 170 requests for support from the community, and went on to support many of these people throughout the year without the need to come through WAMA again.
Completed 58 leaflet rounds
The other 100 tasks that were signed up for included:
· making deliveries to help out local shops, as well as collecting meals for our freezer and soup for the Baptist church
· wrapping books for Christmas for the book shop
· creating flyers and recipe cards
· delivering medical scrubs
40 volunteers signed-up to help us with the Community Hub surveys,
completing door to door delivery rounds, counting leaflets, laminating and putting up posters.
If you would like to donate and support the work of the Community Hub, please click the button below. Every little helps!
