the brierley hill project blog

This last couple of weeks has had lots of activity including 7 volunteer staff from Juniper Training painting our drop-in area. A handyman gave up a days work to oversee things and a volunteer from the café also helped.

Community visiting is going really well, we have lots of wonderful stories from the volunteers visiting clients in their homes. We have also dealt with people who have incredibly difficult situations ranging from imprisonment, domestic violence, loss or delay of benefits, housing challenges and much more. These are intense situations that take a lot of time with one to one support from our staff and volunteers, often calling in partners from other agencies to give more experienced and skilled support in certain areas.

These last couple of weeks have been busy with lots of activities back on, such as Keep Fit and Toddlers. We have seen some new families who have just moved into the area and we have had a steady flow of people with a variety of needs. It’s great to be open again for our client family here, on the estate.

Sainsbury’s staff continue to amaze us!! There was a raffle drawn on 16/12/11 which has raised another £412.70 for the BHP. We would also like to say a massive thank you to Mason Metals who have contributed £60 of food towards the hampers which we have been able to distribute to a number of families around the local area

This week has been very busy with lots of people through the door. We have had great openings and opportunities to meet practical needs. Lots of children’s gifts have been donated through the Foodbank and DCVS, this has helped us support several families with clothes, toys and food. Community visiting was also productive this week, again we met practical needs through cleaning and household chores.
We had our BHP Christmas party last week that went down a treat, with staff, volunteers, trustees and some service users all mixing together in a fun night out!!
We as a BHP team want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It was the last Adult Learning Keep Fit this week which has been very successful, we may restart in January as we continue to develop our partnership. The tutor, in her own time, is kindly going to trial three weeks up until Christmas of Zumba/Keep fit for people who want to continue with this activity and the Brierley Hill Project.

The project has distributed many items of furniture to homes around the estate that were kindly donated by individuals.

The Kingdom Kids club joined with the youth from Albion Street and Hawbush for a campfire at the Community Gardens. There was lots of food and fun including toasting Marshmallows and singing around the campfire. Everyone had a great time.

A big effort has been made by a group of volunteers in keeping the graveyard at South Street Church\Brierley Hill Project looking well presented and cared for. Relatives are now able to find graves that were once overgrown or un-reachable. The plan long term is to transform this into a beautiful landscaped area for the residents of the Chapel Street estate.

This Tuesday (15th November) John Cook the operations manger was invited into Sainsbury’s to go to their colleague council meeting. This was a really nice and encouraging experience as Julie (PR lady and our contact) took him around the store to personally thank a number of the workers who have been working so hard to raise the money for the project.
There is a teddy toy tower in the café which has alone raised £700 already. The ladies were telling John that people buy a book for example, read it, and then bring it back to be a sold again (Good business he thought!!)

In the meeting itself John was presented with a cheque for £2500 which is the money they have raised so far, this is from sponsored walks, parties, quiz nights, the selling of scrap metal, the toy tower and much more. We are so grateful to these guys and this is an amazing amount.

We were also able to discuss briefly our partnership and what we are looking to do in the New Year which is very exciting.

One of the main highlights for the project though has been the work placement that Sainsbury’s have offered. We now have 10 people that have secured jobs at Sainsbury’s through our partnership.

This month the project has had lots more help from Sainsbury’s, who selected us as their Charity of the Year. Sainsbury’s staff have been helping along at the project and also with Foodbank, they have raised a massive £1700 so far, which is an outstanding effort. It is a constant reminder of the many people that help us offer the services we do. We have also started our Creative Writing group and many people are enjoying expressing themselves with words and art.

Lloyds TSB have selected BHP as a recipient of a £35,000 grant for the full funding of a project worker for one year and part of a second year. This is exciting news for all at BHP and ensures that the project can continue to offer services to the local community for the forseeable future. Many thanks to our sponsors and all who give to the BHP.

Logo for LTSBF