One charity which has been close to our hearts for a number of years is Helping Hands Community Project, who provide support and essential services to vulnerable individuals and families from their base in Leamington Spa.
We’ve supported Helping Hands for a number of years, with our staff volunteering at their soup kitchen, preparing food for people who are homeless or in a financial difficulty. Our colleagues have enthusiastically contributed to their Christmas toy donation appeal, gathering hundreds of presents for children from families in need.
However, we are now proud to announce that we will be taking this to a new level. A donation of £10,000 will go towards helping the community with the renovation of a new venue as part of their Project Esther. Set to become a multi-purpose space for vulnerable women and families in the region, it will offer weekly drop-in sessions for vulnerable women, giving them an opportunity to rebuild their confidence and providing them with much-needed all-round support.
The renovation will help to create a space that is calm and inviting, suitable for women and their children to relax. After what has been an especially difficult year for people across the country, spaces like these are vital in assisting women to overcome traumatic experiences.
We will also be helping to furnish the space, redecorating the whole room to accommodate the different kinds of support that Helping Hands provide, whether that’s group yoga sessions, or just being a safe space for emotional and mental support.
Matthew Hickin, CEO at Calor, said: “We have worked with Helping Hands across multiple different projects, as we are always looking to see how we can help the most vulnerable in our communities. We are so proud of all our colleagues who have used their volunteering days that we offer to everyone at Calor to help vital projects like Helping Hands and we’re delighted that we can help them with this donation towards their renovation.
“We’ve all seen first-hand the positive impact Helping Hands’ support can have in helping the community and vulnerable people and we look forward to continuing to help their efforts in any way that we can moving forwards.”
The COVID-19 pandemic made it more challenging for Helping Hands to provide support for people across the region, but these difficulties were overcome with creative solutions and a bit of help from the Calor team. For instance, the charity set up a mobile catering van with support from the local council. Then we stepped in to help with the safety certification, equipment set-up and a large food donation to help get things started.
Lianne Kirkman, CEO of Helping Hands Community Project, said: “After what has been a particularly difficult twelve months for charities across the country, being able to commit to this new renovation project is fantastic news and the funding from Calor has been integral in making this a reality. Being able to transform the space that we have for vulnerable women and families is going to massively expand the services and support which we’re able offer the local community and we look forward to this coming to life in the coming months.”
Helping Hands has been supporting vulnerable people in their community through numerous different schemes since 2015. During this time, they have helped vulnerable people move forward from homeless, domestic violence, addiction, and unemployment towards a better future. You can find more information about their work on their website: https://www.helpinghandscharity.org.uk/ and we’ll be sharing more details and updates from the renovation project in the coming months.
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