Second Haberdashers’ Charities Engagement Evening Builds on Success
Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the Haberdashers’ Charities Engagement Evening returned for its second year, bringing together an impressive cohort of charity leaders with members.
The evening began with Sharon Shamir from Feed the Hill speaking about the reality of food poverty in New Cross. Their project helps meet the needs of those struggling to put food on the table, but does so in such a way that offers agency to those using the service, giving them choice about what they select from the social supermarket. Hatcham College student, Mari Whitehead, also spoke compelling about how her volunteering with the charity is a meaningful way of engaging with her local community. Mari does this as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
Sharon left the Company with a challenge:
Education
Charities were invited to summarise their work in a ‘Three Picture Story’ format, presenting for just sixty seconds alongside three images representing the work. Members were able to have a clear sense of the range of exceptional work being done by all charity partners as well as the challenges they face in the context of limited resources and growing demand.
Over the course of the evening, there were 51 sign ups to help support charities, from offering professional skills to rolling up their sleeves for hands-on volunteering
The evening finished with a conversation between charity partner No Going Back and a Haberdasher who has volunteered with them, Gerry Williams. Gerry talked about the ‘magic’ of volunteering, and how just saying yes to an opportunity can lead to transformation for both volunteer and charity.
As the Company continues to add value to its charity partners with the hands-on involvement of its members, it is one part of them being able to achieve even greater results for the communities they serve.
