Welcome to our new ‘Changing Lives Charity’ blog.
This past year has been such an exciting time for the Charity and everyone involved with it.
The community being built at Andrew House continues to grow stronger with each passing month. Some residents have moved on having gained new-found strength, confidence and resolve from the time they have spent engaging with the Charity and its various initiatives such as the Life Skills course, creative writing or art therapy. Volunteering within the various areas of the Charity through our Volunteer Plus program has also helped to build their self-esteem and increase their social interaction with a broad range of people.
On the business side of things, our new branding (developed in co-operation with the wonderful Amperative) has helped to give Changing Lives a much-needed – and more cohesive – fresh new visual identity. As one our vans stuttered towards the end of its life, we were able to replace it with a brand spanking new van decked out in our new livery – thanks in part to generous donations derived from our Crowdfunding page. Having a reliable van is crucial in enabling us to deliver our pre-loved furniture to new homes or collect unwanted items from people across North Somerset.
Then, of course, there’s our wonderful team of volunteers. With almost 70 ‘on the books’ and around 40 volunteering during any given week, we are so proud and honoured to have such a dedicated group of people who decide week in-week out to donate their valuable time to our cause, whether its sorting through donations, serving customers in our retail spaces, helping out on the vans, directly supporting the residents in Andrew House or working their magic to transform tired, unwanted furniture into fabulous new ‘works of art’ (and if you’ve seen what some of our upcycling volunteers have produced you will know that I use this term very intentionally!).
And finally there are our supporters in the local community and beyond, without whom we would find it difficult to function – as ever, thank you for your continued support and prayers.
To keep up to date with what 2025 has in store for Changing Lives Charity be sure to bookmark this blog, which we hope to update regularly throughout the coming year with news and features on the various areas of the Charity and the groups of people who make it such a special place to be.
Ant
