Volunteers from JTI tidied the garden at a Look Ahead mental health service.
As an organisation with a social purpose, Look Ahead encourages our contractors, suppliers, and partners to go the extra mile in contributing to our operations. We appreciate their generosity and are delighted to share that a number of supporters recently took part in a variety of projects at Look Ahead services, giving us a summer of social value!
Here is a roundup of what they got up to:
1st Stop supported family fun at our refuge
First up, is 1st Stop Property Solutions. While carrying out important renovations at our East London Refuge – including nursery roof repairs, decorating flats and installing new flooring – the 1st Stop team decided the garden could do with a few improvements.
The service supports women who have experienced domestic abuse, as well as their families, so 1st Stop added a new outdoor feature for the children to enjoy.
1st Stop donated a children's playhouse for the garden at our family refuge.
The company’s Director Dean Parkinson said: “Once we finished the garden, including trimming trees and hedges, jet washing, and redoing the flower beds, it still felt a bit bare. I thought adding a playhouse would be the perfect finishing touch. I checked with the service manager, and she was thrilled with the idea. So, we donated and installed the playhouse.”
The playhouse now has pride of place in the garden and is providing an extra opportunity for families to have fun during their stay. We are looking forward to seeing what 1st Stop will do next when they renovate our Kent refuge.
Chas Berger assembled furniture for young future customers
After upgrading our Oaklands site in Ealing from a three-bed townhouse to a homely six-bedroom service with an extensive catalogue of refurbishments, our partners from Chas Berger kindly sent volunteers to help with some final touches ahead of its opening.
Chas Berger volunteers assembled a range of new furniture for future customers.
The Chas Berger volunteer team spent a day building flat pack furniture for the bedrooms and kitchen for future customers to enjoy. Their efforts also saved Look Ahead approximately £5,000 in assembly costs.
The space will soon be used to provide one of the two sites of our brand new Oaklands and St Kilda’s specialist service, which specifically supports young people with their mental health needs and recovery.
The Chas Berger volunteer group gather around a freshly assembled table.
Following their volunteering day, the Chas Berger team said: “We are proud to contribute to creating a comfortable and supportive environment for Look Ahead’s residents.”
JTI and Visa improved outdoor spaces for customers to enjoy
Green fingered volunteers from JTI (pictured above) and Visa made a fantastic impact at our Hackney Mental Health, and Kensington and Chelsea Homelessness services respectively.
The teams got stuck in, tidying, pruning, and improving both locations’ gardens. These outdoor spaces play key parts in our service models, by providing customers with a safe, comfortable outdoor environment to enjoy and relax in as part of their support.
Both volunteer groups’ hard work played a valuable part in improving our customers’ quality of life, and for that we are grateful.
Volunteers from Visa after tidying the garden at a Look Ahead homelessness service.
Following the summer’s activities Look Ahead’s Fundraising and Partnerships Manager Dipti Rapte said:
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of our corporate supporters for the generous contributions they have made to our services during our Summer of Social Value. It has been a great pleasure to see many of these efforts going on in real time, and I am sure they are deeply appreciated not only by staff but also by the customers they have already impacted. We look forward to continuing these partnerships in future. Thank you.”
