April 2022 Roundup - Top Charity Stories & Initiatives!

• 11-01-2020

April 2022 Roundup - Top Charity Stories & Initiatives You Need to Hear About! 

With Easter being right around the corner, and the new season approaching we wanted to share some different stories this week away from our usual tech, digital and business content. 

In the next few months, we have some brilliant awareness dates coming up: National Volunteer Week, Workplace Wellbeing Day, Stress Awareness Month and much more - which we will be sharing thought-provoking, entertaining and insightful content. Different awareness dates may come and go, and are celebrated in different ways - but one thing that will always be a constant is the incredible work from the charities and volunteers in our society, that goes on 24/7 and behind the scenes! 

We feel it is vital to shine a light on all the fantastic work and impact made by social enterprises and third sector organisations that can sometimes get lost in the daily news outreach. Today, we are exploring some of our favourite charity and volunteer initiatives that stood out to us recently to raise awareness and hopefully, inspire you to get involved and be a reminder to seek out the positivity you may need. 

1) Safe REFUGE 

The Safe REFUGE campaign aims to provide a trauma-informed, health-centred approach to the prevention, intervention, and aftercare of survivors of human trafficking and exploitation in the context of humanitarian crises, with notable reference to that caused by the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine.

2) Redemption Roasters 

According to the national average, just 17% of people previously in prison in the UK are at work a year after release. The team at Redemption Roasters are on a mission to change this. 

Their training model is showing excellent results so far, with 42% of Redemption Roasters’ graduates moving into employment.  

The organisation trains offenders in prisons across the country in roastery and barista skills to prepare them for life on the outside. On their release, they are helped to find work either at one of the Redemption Roasters coffee shops or with their wholesale clients. While grabbing a regular cup of joe at one of their branches out and about in London, you are helping the cause, supporting the employee's futures and ultimately helping to reduce reoffending rates. 

3) Preply

Preply, the language learning app and e-learning platform launched their ‘Messages to Ukraine’ project to help people show their solidarity with Ukraine and communicate directly with the displaced people from there. 

The online Preply community is now able to express messages of hope and support to Ukrainians via this landing page. Currently, the website includes over 5000 messages spanning 115 countries in 184 languages. These messages uniquely bring individuals from different cultures and nations together through language. These messages of support are visualised on an interactive map which also shows message translations in Ukrainian. This initiative will go beyond the online space as Preply plans to place these messages on digital billboards in Eastern European countries that have taken the Ukrainian people in with open arms. If you'd like to get involved and show your support, check out the Preply website.

4) Together in Barnet

Together in Barnet (TiB) are providing a much-needed welcoming space for Londoners away from the streets. Set up with the intention that no one should have to spend a night on the streets, the charity was founded in 2003, in response to the death of a homeless man on the streets of Barnet. TiB works in close partnership with the day centre Homeless Action in Barnet (HAB) to provide for the needs of the most vulnerable in the Barnet community. It works in conjunction with 32 different communities and faiths in the area and is truly recognised as a grassroots community charity. In the next few months, they will be launching a new initiative, The Together Project aimed at bringing together members of the community with people who have experienced homelessness or are currently experiencing homelessness. The goal is to provide individually tailored support to create networks, community, and social contact. 

5) Community Fridges

Hubbub is a charity that inspires ways of living that are sustainable and beneficial to the environment and has aided the Co-Op to create 150 Community Fridges across the UK. This initiative has widespread across the UK and the Community Fridges are not only fridges but also social spaces that are open and accessible to anyone and everyone. They are part of an initiative by Hubbub and the Co-op to save over 6.8 million meals per year from going to waste, by placing surplus food into a Community Fridge and distributing this to communities across the UK. Whilst tackling food waste, people from all backgrounds, religions and ethnicities are bought together. Fantastic! 

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We hope this article has spread a little joy and positivity to your screen today while raising awareness of the incredible work charities and social enterprises are fulfilling at the moment. It may even inspire you to get involved with a cause today. 

EnergiseTech Team