What does community mean to you? How much are you involved in your local community. I have always given back to my community and always done voluntary work of some description. As a university student I helped a local charity with children at risk of exclusion. We spent an evening a week taking them out and talking to them. Once back in Gloucestershire I spent many years helping at a youth project through my local church. We ran various youth groups for local teenagers and I enjoyed interacting with the young people. In more recent times I have taken on the role of school governor, I felt this was a great way of using the knowledge and skills I developed in my 12 years teaching. I have always encouraged my students to do voluntary work both for looking good on a future CV but also for the intrinsic value it leaves in the heart.
Voluntary work is so rewarding and seeing community projects in action and the immediate and long lasting effect it has on service users and the community is totally humbling. Earlier this year a nationwide competition was launched, designed to give community spaces across the country the spruce up they deserve to make them look and function at their very best. It was open for twelve weeks and saw 179 community spaces nominated to win a clean from Cif’s Before & After Project. The Swindon Night Shelter was one of the worthy winners and I popped down today to see the clean up in action.
The night shelter is a Christian run charity, seeking to serve those who are homeless, vulnerable and struggling in the area. They run a night shelter every Friday night from 9pm – 8am at St Mary’s church hall. At the shelter they offer a hot meal, a chance to shower and wash clothes and a bed for the night. There’s an opportunity to relax, chat, receive advice about help and support in the week. Although the volunteers are Christian the centre users come from all beliefs and no beliefs. They are all welcomed and given the space and opportunity get freshened up and have a meal.
I went along to see the clean up which was focusing on painting the the building and cleaning the kitchen. The night shelter are currently looking to improve and make the kitchens more user friendly. Cif have enabled the shelter to get a deep clean and this is so important to the center and the users. We should all have an environment we are proud of as it makes the space brighter and more welcoming. Trang Pham, Senior Brand Manager for Cif commented: “We’re very proud to have launched the Cif Before & After Project this year. We know that for many towns, their local community space is the heart of their community; however upkeep isn’t always easy to manage. We’re so pleased that our expert cleaning squad will be bringing the shine back to the Swindon Night Shelter and hope the spruced-up space continues to be a vital part of the community.”
I also briefly spoke to the manager of the night shelter who was overwhelmed to win and said that it will make a huge difference to all using the shelter. Outside the shelter are boxes where donations can be left and it would be wonderful for people to make a donation to their local shelter help those who are currently having a tough time.
