Target reached!
You can help this project to raise more and reach its stretch target.
A Warm Welcome At Mearns Kirk Helping Hands
Glasgow, East Renfrewshire Council, United Kingdom
Aim
Help us support our wonderful team of volunteers to continue providing warm and welcome spaces this winter.
Who are we?
Mearns Kirk Helping Hands is a volunteer led charity based in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire. We aim to reduce loneliness and isolation and improve health and wellbeing by "community helping community".
Community impact
Mearns Kirk Helping Hands provides a variety of groups, activities and supports designed to help combat loneliness and isolation. From social groups where people can come together and share food and companionship, to specialised supports for people living with dementia, we aim to provide a warm welcome. And for older people who aren't able to come to our groups, or who prefer one to one companionship, we have a team of volunteer befrienders who can provide this.
We also aim to support lifelong health and wellbeing. We offer activities like tai chi, mindfulness groups and strength and balance classes which contribute to both mental and physical wellness. And we promote learning opportunities such as using technology to help people maintain independence in areas such as shopping online safely.
None of this would be possible without our team of volunteers. Drivers who get people to groups, kitchen helpers who prepare and serve hot food and drinks, helpers who welcome and chat to our members, befrienders who visit people at home; each and every volunteer contributes so much and we are truly grateful.
Why are we crowdfunding?
Our team of over 90 volunteers provide their time, skills and enthusiasm every day, helping us to help some of the most isolated people in our community.
In return, we offer high quality training and learning opportunities, out of pocket expenses, and occasional social and celebration events. We also ensure we provide all the necessary equipment to allow volunteers to carry out their roles safely and effectively. And our dedicated Volunteer Coordinator offers one to one support and guidance.
Giving our volunteers the support, training and resources they deserve is vital to the running of our groups and activities.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The money we raise will be used to provide high quality training opportunities for our volunteers, including first aid, food hygiene and mental health awareness training. It will also allow us to reimburse volunteers who use their own cars to bring people along to our groups. And it will help us to demonstrate how much we value our volunteers by providing social get togethers to celebrate their achievements throughout the year.
Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost has provided £750 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 7th March 2023