Friends of the Community
Key Group, Friends of the Community, were moved by the stark issue of homelessness in and around Newcastle, and came up with the idea of supporting those experiencing homelessness by creating and distributing care packages for their stage 1 and stage 3 project, building upon it each time.
For stage 1, this group worked hard to make their budget stretch by creating a shopping list, purchasing essential food and gloves before wrapping and hand delivering them to the vulnerable. After their success, they worked hard to make an even bigger impact with their Stage 3 Key Project choosing to support a similar theme but this time on a bigger scale. After researching the needs of the homeless community and finding items that were greatly needed such as sleeping bags, flasks and food vouchers that can be used more than once. To push the project even further and support more people, the group came up with the idea of a reverse advent calendar which encouraged others to donate rather than take something from the calendar.
All involved thought outside of the box in order to make a bigger impact and it paid off for others in the community. Key Facilitator, Gary Nelson, said: "I am so proud of how the group built on their Key Skills throughout the project and how this inspired others to carry out similar projects. They overcome barriers such as using Teams to deliver their presentation to unfamiliar people, which is such a big achievement for each individual in the group. The sense of fulfilment and achievement from each group member was something special as they each put so much effort into helping others."
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The Key