Summer 2014 The number of people & children we have helped with food over the last 12 months has quadrupled. See pages 1 & 2 for more details We are taking part in a truly epic challenge - taking on the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours - read more on page 3 View our new films at charity-link.org/our-films Marie found the courage to leave an abusive relationship with her children. They left with nothing. Marie is trying to make a new start, but she is on a low income working in a museum. The children had no spare clothes, Marie had no cooker to prepare meals for the family and she could not afford electricity. We helped immediately with clothing, a cooker and £100 towards utilities. Please help us help more local people and children... Thank You Food bank Poverty week A huge thank you for all of your support. As you will see from the latest issue we have been extremely busy raising awareness of the need within our community. In July we are set to take on our biggest challenge - the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours. This is a challenge that we have chosen to take on to support the most vulnerable in our community. This, however, does not compare to the challenges that far too many have to face each and every day.... How to feed my children when I have no money? How to stay warm when I have no heating? How to cook a nutritious meal without a cooker? How to do well at school when I have to look after my mum? How can I be independent? As a charity we are constantly facing the challenge of helping more and more people and children in desperate need. In the last twelve months we have witnessed a 40% increase in the number of people needing our help and the number of people needing food has quadrupled. Charity Link’s Food Bank was established in June 2013 and since then has distributed around 6,000 bags of food. On 29th November we held a ‘food drive’ at St Martins House to build up stocks for the busy Christmas and New Year period. 26 organisations and a number of individuals were kind enough to donate food and small Christmas presents for children. Our donors included De Montfort University Student Union, Waitrose, the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council and Sir Peter Soulsby as well as a range of local businesses. We also received a kind donation of 120 mince pies from the Rotary Club of Leicester. We’re very grateful to all those who supported our food drive, and others who have made food donations including English Martyrs’ Catholic School, Regent College, and George’s Hairdressing Salon. Together, we can help. Together we can ensure that the most vulnerable have someone to turn to for help. The simple fact is we can’t do this without you. Mark & Louise need help to make a start in life View our film regarding food poverty at www.charity-link.org/our-films We’re also delighted to report that the Co-op supermarket in Glenfield began collecting food donations for Charity Link on 11th April, and we are hugely grateful to the staff and customers for their support. On 13th April, a Vaisakhi Food Drive in Leicester’s Sikh community was held in aid of a number of local charitable distributors, including Charity Link’s Food Bank. Over 11 tonnes of food were collected – wow! Mark was taken into care at the age of 12. Now 19, he lives with his partner Louise, 17, who is studying hard at college. Mark was starting to get his life on track with a job as a labourer until an accident led to a finger being amputated. As If this wasn’t enough, Mark was also undergoing treatment for cancer behind his eye. Mark applied for Employment and Support Allowance to help him through this difficult time. Whilst Mark awaited the decision regarding his benefits, the young couple were desperately struggling. They were relying on food parcels, but couldn’t afford a cooker to prepare the food provided. We helped immediately and provided a cooker, £100 towards utilities and a further £100 so Mark and Louise could buy a new set of clothes to give this young couple a helping hand. 1 Graeme Ellis, Rosemary Conley CBE and Rosita Page, Chairman of Leicestershire County Council Poverty is right here on our doorstep – in Leicester City, for example, almost one child in three is living in poverty. National Poverty & Homelessness Action Week aims to raise awareness of poverty in the UK. Building on the success of our 2013 Poverty Week campaign, Charity Link held a range of activities as part of this year’s Poverty Week from 25th January to 2nd February 2014. Our aim was to raise awareness of the impact of poverty on our local communities, and the role that Charity Link plays in helping to support those most in need. We launched three new films telling first-hand the stories of people who use Charity Link’s services – please watch them at www.charity-link.org/our-films. We also held a series of workshops in secondary schools, exploring students’ ideas about the causes and effects of poverty in our local communities. A particular highlight was healthy living guru Rosemary Conley CBE coming to visit our Food Bank at St Andrews on Friday 31st January. Rosemary talked to volunteers and learned about how Charity Link’s Food Bank operates. Rosemary tweeted afterwards, “You are doing amazing work helping very needy folk of Leicester. Well done to you and your team.” Big thanks to Rosemary for her support. Surviving Winter is a national campaign to support vulnerable families and older people through the difficult winter months. For many such households, rising fuel costs has meant that there are many forced to make difficult choices between eating or heating their home. The Surviving Winter campaign asks people to donate either their Winter Fuel payment or any amount they can afford to help more vulnerable families through the winter. Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation co-ordinated the local campaign, with Age UK and Charity Link as partner organisations to ensure the donations reached those most in need. 50,000 homes in Leicestershire and Rutland were facing fuel poverty this winter. In total, Charity Link received £5,796 which was allocated locally to support households experiencing food and fuel poverty. Act on Poverty Young people in local secondary schools had the chance to explore and express their ideas about poverty in our community when we launched our Act on Poverty project in January 2014. Charity Link worked alongside acclaimed local performer Elaine Pantling of Laurielorry Theatre Company to enable students to think about issues around poverty in an accessible and creative way. Four local schools were involved and around 300 young people took part. The feedback from students was amazing! In fact, our Act on Poverty project was so successful that we are now hoping to run Phase 2 of this project, with the opportunity for more local schools in deprived areas to be involved. Watch this space! Elaine Pantling working with students 2 Three Peaks Challenge Ain’t no mountain high enough for Rachel! Keep on running... Our ‘Super’ Heroes The team are ready for a truly epic challenge to take on the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours - all in the name of charity! Starting on the 5th July, our team will trek in a variety of conditions; some of the climb may see snow and some will be completed in darkness, our path lit just by the head torches we wear...! The team is made up of a fantastic bunch of people from Charity Link, RDZ PR, Practical Car Rental, Jordan Motors, Creative Direction, Cicle Ltd, Utility Warehouse, Edward Hands & Lewis Solicitors and individuals. Please do support our team! If you would like to sponsor the challenge or for more info on the Three Peaks Challenge please: Super climber Rachel Hargrave is tackling ten of the world’s highest mountains in aid of Charity Link, with the aim of raising a phenomenal £250,000 over the next four years to support local people in desperate need. 41 year old Rachel Hargrave, from Leicestershire, climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in February 2014 and her next challenge will be the UK’s Three Peaks in July (see article to the left!) Her other destinations include Elbrus (Russia), Aconcagua (Argentina), Denali (US), Carstensz Pyramid (Indonesia), Mount Vinson (Antarctica), and finally conquering Everest in the Himalayas. Visit www. charity-link.org Rachel chose to raise the money for Charity Link after meeting our staff and finding out about our work a few years ago. She has been a wonderful supporter ever since, and we are totally in awe of her determination! Words are not enough! Follow our progress @charitylink and facebook.com/charitylink To support Rachel, please visit giving-back.co.uk/seven-summits-challenge.asp Call Susan McEniff on 0116 222 2212 Email [email protected]. The race across the UK is on! Karen desperately wants to be independent On 6th April, Abbey Park in Leicester city centre was taken over by superheroes running 5km to raise over £1,000 for Charity Link. Chris will be taking part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon on Sunday 28th September 2014 - go Chris! Excitement mounted as Batman, Spiderman, The Incredibles and a whole host of other heroes gathered in Abbey Park to warm up before the race. In total, over 100 superheroes and mini-heroes took part in the fun run which was held in aid of Charity Link and Vista. The event was kindly sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Leicester, De Montfort and Rotaract, Sturgess Motor Group and The Fitness Bank. If you would like to sponsor Chris then please go to: Supergirl – also known as Charity Link’s Director of Marketing and Fundraising Susan McEniff – commented, “We were so happy with the event and the money that has been raised for charity. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from those who took part, as well as spectators - and we are looking to arrange the date for next year’s superhero fun run, which will be even bigger and better. Thank you so much to all our heroes who took part and helped to make the event so good!” If you would like to take part in the Leicester marathon or half marathon and run for Charity Link then we will fund your place. There are limited places available, so if you are interested then please call Susan McEniff on 0116 222 2212 or email [email protected]. www.justgiving.com/Chris-Worth-2 Of course we can’t forget the Leicester marathon and half marathon on Sunday 26th October starting from and ending at Victoria Park. Thank you to everyone who has supported our work, including: Karen has been housebound for seven years due to mobility issues caused by fibromyalgia. An electric wheelchair would give Karen her independence back, but it would cost £3,000 which she could never afford. We paid for an Occupational Therapy Assessment to check the suitability of an electric wheelchair for Karen. We then raised over £3,000 to purchase the right wheelchair. “All the hard work you have done, I will never forget. I can go wherever I want. It has been seven long years, but freedom is here! Now I can do the school run, which is amazing, and the ducks at the local pond know me and my chair. This wouldn’t have happened without Charity Link and one day I will repay you.” 3 Our ‘super’ Superheroes s ce b p ffi o eps version REGENCY GROUP www.regencybusinessgroup.co.uk THE We will be starting in Scotland, moving down through England and then Wales. Hopefully we’ll find time to appreciate the outstanding views and beautiful natural scenery on our way. Rachel on the top of Kili! Chris Worth of Blanket Financial Services wasn’t able to join the team of ‘Three Peakers’ so he decided to run a half marathon instead! The Regency Group of p every Friday morning for promote our services an would like to join us, con www.regencybusinessgro 4 Charity Dinner A Bellyful of Laughs Charity Link has been delighted to be Leicestershire Law Society’s nominated charity during 2013-14. On 5th December, the Law Society hosted a reception with Midlands Asian Lawyers Association at The Bankers Club in Leicester, raising £112.50 through a raffle. Then on 28th March, the Law Society hosted a black tie dinner at the City Rooms. 100 guests enjoyed a silent auction, raffle and disco, raising £1,500 for Charity Link. The finale and prestigious Leicestershire Law Society Annual Awards was held at The Athena on 9th May - ending an amazing year of support from Ranjit Thaliwell during his presidency. We are extremely pleased to annouce that Steven Swanton as incoming president will continue supporting Charity Link during 2014/2015. A grand total of £4,000 was raised throughout the year. Dates for your diary Anthony King February saw the return of our popular live comedy night ‘A Bellyful of Laughs’ as part of Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival 2014. And then the return of the return... as the event sold out so quickly, we had to put on a second comedy night in the same week! The fun took place at Colourworks restaurant in Leicester over two nights, where a total of 140 guests enjoyed a delicious two-course meal before the comedy started. Our regular headliner Anthony King topped the bill with supporting acts including Wayne Beese, Jen Brister, Jack Campbell, Rob Coleman, Theresa Farlow, Francis Jenkin, Chris McIlroy, Adam Rushton, Jim Shields, and Nicky Wilkinson. A big thank you to all those who supported A Bellyful of Laughs this year – you raised £1,650 to support vulnerable local people. Heaven, a single parent with two young children, wanted more for her family so completed a hairdressing course last year. She has now set up her own hairdressing business to earn her own income and ensure that she is still there for the children. Currently, she is only earning enough to cover her expenses and as a result she is struggling to cover her essential outgoings of food and utilities. Her children are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and this is no longer suitable as the springs are protruding. Heaven simply didn’t have the funds to purchase new beds and mattresses. We helped immediately and purchased bunk beds and mattresses so that the children could sleep soundly in a proper bed. We wish Heaven well for her business venture. 5 e Three Peaks Challeng is Star ting at Ben Nev 5th July e follow our adventur @charitylink or tylink facebook.com/chari Moulin Roug e at Bistro Liv e Thursday 30th Octob er details to fo llow Leicest er and ha marathon lf mara thon Sunday 26th O ctober If you w run for ould like to Charity we’ll fu Link nd you r place ! ☼ ut the Check o dar of n e l a c g excitin om the r f s t n e ev rshire Leiceste ty... cie Law So there! We’ll be Definitely something to smile about! Now that’s what we call ‘legal aid’! Heaven wants to provide for her family Annu Friday al Golf Day 26th S eptemb er star tin g 1pm £250 per tea m of fo ur Staplef ord Pa rk Pover t y & Hom elessne Action ss Week 18th J anuary 2015 ☺ r ceste i e L ’s Dave medy Co 015 2 l a v Festi o 22nd t 4th uary r b e F Call 0116 222 2212 or email [email protected] for more info 6 Get involved and do something amazing for thousands of vulnerable people and children in our very own community! Make a donation at charity-link.org Donate food to our food bank Join us at our events - we’d love to see you Support our ‘Three peakers’ Take on a challenge - marathon anyone? Do your own thang! - we’ll support you Spread the word about our work Join us on facebook.com/charitylink Follow us @charitylink for e n o very rk e o ou t our wo his y k t n Tha por ting n’t do sup eally ca you! we r without Leicester Charity Link 20a Millstone Lane Leicester LE1 5JN follow us on twitter @charitylink or facebook.com/charitylink Registered Charity, no. 1078271 and a Company Limited by Guarantee, no. 03761954 t: 0116 222 2200 f: 0116 222 2201 e: [email protected] w: www.charity-link.org All stories are true, but names and pictures have been changed to protect confidentiality