Who we've helped

ASCEND

ASCEND provides a confidential support service for young homeless people in the Watford area.

The charity provides two schemes called Crashpad and GAP.

Crashpad is an emergency accommodation service for young people aged 16 to 21 years old who find themselves genuinely homeless. They are placed with local hosts for a period of up to 14 nights and are given a bed, breakfast and an evening meal. We donated £3,000 to support this scheme.

The GAP (Guaranteed Accommodation Payment) scheme is designed to help young people access accommodation in the private sector.

BID - Services for Deaf People

Elders Friendship Group

The Friendship Group consists of a group of vulnerable deaf older people who meet on Tuesday of each week between the times of 11am and 3pm at BID Centre in Ladywood, Birmingham. In addition to deafness some of the elders have additional needs such as poor mobility, visual impairment, learning difficulties and mental health. The overall aim is to provide a safe environment in which the group can come together and pursue social/leisure activities.

Objectives

• Reduce isolation of vulnerable deaf older people
• Encourage communication between group members
• Monitor well being of group attendees
• Provide opportunity for sharing experiences.

Birmingham Focus on Blindness

Birmingham Focus on Blindness provides services to help blind and partially sighted children and young adults live more independent and fulfilling lives. These services include advice, practical help and emotional support, as well as day care and residential homes, sight assessment, community support services, free radios for the blind, therapy and rehabilitation, a telephone helpline, a transcription service and awareness training.

Charity Search

Charity Search provides a valuable service to the elderly in need by making contact with appropriate established charities on their behalf. This service is free of charge.

Chelsea Building Society Charitable Foundation donated £1,500 to cover telephone and postal costs for one year.

Ivy Project

The Ivy Project is an Exeter based charity which offers young people the opportunity to develop themselves and their communities through volunteering.

A high proportion of the young people who join The Ivy Project have additional support needs. These needs cover the whole range of challenges faced by young people today.

The grant made by Chelsea Building Society Charitable Foundation contributed towards the salary of the Project’s support worker.

The support worker works on a one to one basis to develop tailored opportunities with young people who require the most support to be able to take part in volunteering. The benefits to the individual are enormous, including developing practical work based skills, gaining confidence and improved social skills. Personal development is measured at regular reviews.

Volunteers are also able to take part in training on topics such as self esteem and assertiveness, active listening, body language, public speaking and presentation skills, interview techniques and CV writing skills.

National Star College

Chelsea Building Society Charitable Foundation has been proud to support the National Star College for over three years.

To help the college achieve their aims, we have donated funds of over £1,200 and provided practical support in other areas, such as supplying printed material for their literature and brochures.

Parentline Plus Gloucestershire

Parentline Plus Gloucestershire is a provider of parenting support and education in Gloucestershire.

A grant of £2,500 was given to help recruit and train outreach volunteers to assist their outreach workers due to expansion and demand of their services.

St John's Family Resource Unit

St John's Family Resource Unit is a specialist family assessment centre for young children who are at risk of, or have been the victims of neglect, abuse or violence and their families. The parents of these children can be as young as 13 or 14 years old and have often been the victims of abuse themselves.

We made a donation of £3,500 to fund sensory equipment to stimulate children's hand eye coordination, self awareness, concentration and listening skills.