On Thursday 26th June just under 70 people gathered at St Andrew’s Church Centre for our 3rd annual Celebration Event.
Themed around the opening words of Paul’s letters to the churches, “I give thanks for you…” it was the Charity’s opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to God and all of the people present at the gathering and beyond who have helped support the Charity, Andrew House and the Volunteer Plus scheme over the past year, be they supporters, volunteers, counsellors, staff or supporting agencies and local businesses.
We were honoured to welcome representatives from North Somerset Council, Clevedon Golf Club, Clevedon Salerooms, Amperative, We Are With You, SSAFA and more besides to thank them for their support and partnership as we continue our work alongside those in need.
At the event we were also privileged to hear testimony from Luke, a current resident of Andrew House and Andy, a former resident, about the impact that the Charity has had on their lives; how it has helped to lift them up, build their confidence and self-esteem, and enabled them to move forwards into the future with increased hope, safe in the knowledge that there are people here who will continue to walk alongside them on their journey. I’m sure all who were present were moved to hear of their lived experiences.
Other highlights on the day included:
- · hearing from Jenny and Hasina about how the Charity is striving to increase their support for women in need who live in the local community;
- · learning about an exciting apprenticeship scheme being offered by Clevedon Golf Club for one of the beneficiaries of our Volunteer Plus scheme;
- · hearing from Maggie about the admirable work of KeySteps – a charity which has supported the homeless in Weston for many years and which has now merged with Changing Lives (see our previous blog post for more information about KeySteps);
- · Charlotte B-H and Jay explaining how the Charity’s trading arm continues to go from strength-to-strength in its efforts to raise much-needed funds to support the Charity’s work;
- · an explanation of our partnership with HMP Horfield, with examples of the wonderful furniture that inmates have upcycled dotted around the Church Centre for attendees to view
We hope that all those who attended enjoyed the event and found it an enlightening opportunity to learn about the various facets of our work. If you didn’t attend this year, then we will hopefully look forward to your company in 2026!
Besides all those already mentioned, I’d also like to extend our thanks to St Andrew’s Church for their provision of the excellent Church Centre for the holding of our Celebration Event; to Wendy at the Food Faculty for, once again, providing us with a wonderful and much-complimented selection of filled rolls and ‘sweet treats’, and to Noah for his excellent photos of the event (in addition to the slideshow that he put together with Simon, and which Ian gave thanks for during the event).
And on this note I will leave you with some of Noah’s photos from the event.
Ant
