HelpingHands

We have developed a range of services to provide a holistic support system and enable us to support as many people as possible, through areas such as; furniture/food/clothing provision, emergency heating, counselling, befriending, mentoring, CV preparation, budgeting advice, training (through operational café/workshop), and volunteering opportunities. Our goal is to journey with people regardless of the challenges that they are facing. If someone requires a piece of furniture then we will support them with that (sometimes they only need support in this way), however, often the reason they need practical support is due to other challenges. Therefore, we will then offer any of our other services as wraparound support should they need it for example budgeting advice so they will be able to manage their household income and save for items of furniture they need in the future. We want to give people a hand up rather than a hand out.

Our services have been making a huge difference in the lives of many people within our local community for over 15 years. We believe that the services we are providing to our community are a vital lifeline to many.

In 2024 we gave out 1374 items of practical support including; mattresses, sofas, toys etc. This directly reached 3304 individuals across 826 households. Our counselling services provided 150 sessions to those in need for a variety of issues. In addition our mediation services interacted with a wide number of people facing various challenges from relationship breakdown to sectarian and racial conflicts. Furthermore, our fun days and events reached around 2000 people and raised awareness of the work of Helping Hands. These figures are for those who we have supported directly, typically there are a minimum of 3 people supported indirectly for every person supported directly.

Our main aims are:

Alleviate poverty through the provision of practical services to those most vulnerable in our society.

Through relationship building we endeavour to improve capacity, enhance employability, provide opportunity for volunteering and further training while journeying with those in need in order to assist them to achieve stability in their life.

Work with relevant agencies in order to positively impact homelessness and provide safe space and assistance to those affected.

Deepen the services available to meet the ever increasing and changing needs within the community and seek to expand these wraparound services to a wider area through further locations.