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Finsbury Park Homeless Families Project
(Featuring eVolve: the youth action team run by vinvolved Central London, made up of 15 young people aged 16-25.)
The idea
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At an eVolve meeting in May, it was decided that the team would organise and participate in a one-off volunteering project, during Volunteer Week 2010. A brainstorming meeting was held initially to look at what type of projects the team were interested in and what would be feasible as a one-off project with only two weeks of preparation time available.
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After taking a vote, it was agreed that the team would organise a project for a homeless organisation, such as decorating rooms in a hostel. Tasks were divided up amongst the team in order to arrange this project. |
The Project
The first task was to identify an organisation that wanted our assistance. Contact was made with several hostels and day centres, and Finsbury Park Homeless Families Project (FPHFP) was the chosen organisation. FPHFP is a day centre based in North London working with homeless families in the area who may be living in temporary accommodation and require support around a range of issues such as immigration, legal issues, welfare rights, and childcare. They wanted eVolve to give their outdoor space a make-over, which would involve gardening, painting a fence and decorating the area.
Equipment and donations such as paint, brushes, decorations and gardening equipment were then sought from local and national businesses. The team worked together and communicated regularly via e-mail in order to ensure that everything was in place for the day. Another team was also invited to join the project; this was City Year, an organisation that provides young people with a year-long volunteer project to enhance their skills ready for the work place.
On the day, members of the two teams met at the day centre and spent the afternoon transforming the outdoor space and meeting staff members at FPHFP to learn more about their organisation.
Everybody found the day incredibly rewarding and a member of staff from FPHFP said: “They are amazing!”
Case Study by Miranda Keast (eVolve) |
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| | Youth Volunteering | | Young people 16 – 25 years old across Central London (Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, Westminster)
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