This year we have donated to a choice of six charities selected by our team. Given the challenges of the past year we wanted to support a range organisations that are doing fantastic things. We are pleased to support their varied missions which include:
Mentoring Plus: Supporting young people facing challenges by connecting them with their community through award winning mentoring schemes, youth clubs, projects and inspiring activities programmes.
Bath Foodbank: Providing food parcels to individuals and families in crisis around the city.
Black South West Network: Driving racial equality in the South West and nationally through releasing the agency and voice of BAME people.
Julian House: Building a just society where socially excluded people are supported and empowered to build sustainable, independent lives.
Princes Trust: Provide financial and personal support, advice, guidance and mentoring to help them start their own business and provide for themselves by building a prosperous and fulfilling career.
Bath Welcomes Refugees: Bringing safety and security in the UK to those people persecuted and in danger in their own countries and homelands, and in particular to help them settle in Bath and the surrounding area.
We have provided a short overview of each charity that we have supported this year below and encourage others to explore the work that they are doing and if they can support in whatever capacity they are able.
Mentoring Plus
Mentoring Plus are a local Bath-based charity who supports young people facing challenges by connecting them with their community through award winning mentoring schemes, youth clubs, projects and inspiring activities programmes. Over half the young people referred to the charity are identified as at risk of school exclusion, a huge risk factor for that student’s future. We at 3ADAPT share the charity’s vision that every young person deserves the chance to thrive and fulfil their potential. By supporting the projects and people involved at Mentoring Plus (including one of our very own team members!), we can help young people connect to their local community and significantly improve their confidence, relationships and overall health and wellbeing.
Bath Food Bank
Run entirely by volunteers, Bath Foodbank provides food parcels to individuals and families in crisis around the city. Last year the organisation fed more than 3,000 people, and over the past year it has seen an enormous increase in demand by local people for a variety of reasons such as illness, unemployment and redundancy, with the most common reason being benefit delays or changes. So many local people are in dire circumstances and have been recently plunged into this by the COVID-19 crisis, so we feel it is essential to provide emergency help and ‘crisis response’ to support the foodbank in favour of some other charities with longer-term goals.
Black South-West Network
Racial equality still has a long way to go in the UK, particularly highlighted by the Black Lives Matter campaign triggered by the murder of George Floyd last year; one of countless devastating murders of innocent black lives that shook the world. We are committed to fighting for racial equality from our everyday actions, to education and activism, and by helping the BSWN fulfil their Mission: ‘To be a driving force for racial equality in the South West and nationally through releasing the agency and voice of BAME people such that they can utilize robust research, lived experiences, and innate knowledge to influence decision-making, increase their economic and social capital, and construct a more equitable and prosperous society for BAME people everywhere.’ The charity’s work includes Cross-sector Enterprise and Innovation; Cultural Inclusion; Research and Knowledge – with Scrutiny and Accountability and Representation and Power as over-arching themes that cut through all their work.
Julian House
Despite being a significant issue pre-COVID-19 with the total number of households in temporary accommodation in England increasing by 75% and rough sleeping increasing 141% between 2010-2019, the pandemic has increased homelessness and peoples’ risk of homelessness. Julian House supports vulnerable and at-risk people experiencing homelessness, domestic abuse, people with learning difficulties and who need support after leaving prison. Operating more than 40 projects and training programmes and supporting over 1,800 individuals each year, their aim is to ‘Build a just society where socially excluded people are supported and empowered to build sustainable, independent lives’. This charity is therefore well-aligned to our values and goal of enabling all people to lead better, safer and more sustainable lives, and we are committed to help tackle the UK homelessness crisis in any way we can.
Prince’s Trust
Young people have been the hardest hit by unemployment due to the COVID-19 crisis, resulting in a 10% increase in youth unemployment as organisations have been found more likely to retain experience and let go of young people. The Resolution Foundation have also predicted that the employment rate of today’s graduates is projected to be 13% lower three years down the line than it would have been without the crisis, so young people need our help more than ever. The Princes Trust provide financial and personal support, advice, guidance and mentoring to help them start their own business and provide for themselves by building a prosperous and fulfilling career; ‘We believe that every young person should have the chance to embrace exciting opportunities. So, we help 11 to 30 year-olds to find the tools and confidence to try free courses and start careers.’
Bath Welcomes Refugees
With an aim ‘to bring safety and security in the UK to those people persecuted and in danger in their own countries and homelands, and in particular to help them settle in Bath and the surrounding area’, this charity provides hands-on involvement, befriending and fundraising so that local refugees are welcomed and supported into their new home. We would like to help welcome refugees into our local community so that they can make the transition to live happy, healthy and sustainable lives here, recover from past traumatic experiences and feel supported after the hugely intimidating experience of moving to a new country, culture and home.
