Last
Thursday, 12th July, Alessandra Gnudi and I rolled up our sleeves
and got to work sprucing up the Hatfield Community Centre in East London, as
part of the Jubilee Hour, in an effort to help Catch 22.
The Jubilee Hour is an initiative taking place
throughout the Queen’s Jubilee year, to get people to contribute an hour of
their time for charity or goodwill. Catch22’s programmes help to develop a
person's confidence and skills to grasp solutions that are right for them; from
getting back into school or into training, choosing to stay out of crime,
finding a safe place to live and helping them with the skills needed to live
independently after leaving care or custody.
The
day was organised by Katarina Jankovic of Re:locate Magazine and Paragon, and it called on
professionals from the relocation industry to work alongside youths from the
local area to replant the two flower beds at the entrance to the Community
Centre. Catch 22 organised the day, from
finding a gardener to contribute her time, to providing coffee breaks and lunch
for all those who participated. There
were 25 volunteers in total, and we spent the morning clearing the existing
flower beds of old, gnarly tree roots, weeds and garbage.
The
first youth volunteer to turn up was a girl of 16 who is a youth carer for her
sister, mother and grandfather who are all ill and require being looked
after.
I was
on kitchen duty and prepared lunch for the group, which proved very interesting
given that we had no cutlery! I was
assisted by another 16 year old girl suffering from a debilitating muscle
disorder, anorexia and low self-esteem.
She found it quite a challenge to be involved in food preparation, but
with a little encouragement she washed her hands, rolled up her sleeves and got
stuck in!
By
four o’clock in the afternoon, the beds had been cleared and prepped for the
next phase – planting! In great
community spirit, the planting was to be done on the following Saturday by the
children from the local primary school.
It was
a very humbling experience to learn about the work that Catch 22 is doing to
support young people today. The energy
and enthusiasm that the staff showed to encourage hard work and positive behaviour
among a group of youths who don’t have a lot of encouragement in their daily
lives was very life affirming.
Written by Eva Stock
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