Oasis Hub Bath: Hub News Summer 2021

HUB NEWS VOLUME 6 • SUMMER 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

REFLECT, REST, RESET. JO DOLBY, HUB LEADER

This point in the year is often an opportunity for many of us to look back at the academic year just gone (reflect), take a break (rest) and get ready to go again in September (reset).

For us at Oasis there's lots to reflect on in the last year, huge challenges and struggles but also lots to be thankful for and excited about. Our Hub Steering Group recently evaluated our 2020 Impact Report and it was so moving again to be reminded of all we managed to do in such a crazy year, and all we've done already in the first half of 2021. Many of our team will be taking a well earned break over August, and we're closing our pantries for two weeks to allow us to restock and reset. We know this will help us come back stronger in September, ready to face all that the new academic year has for us. We can't wait to get started!

Whatever your plans this summer we hope that you too can find some time to reflect, rest and reset.

Reflect, Rest, Reset • P. 1

IN THIS ISSUE

NewSouthdown Satellite Launched Pantry • P. 2 -3 Pull Up a Chair • P. 3

Make Lunch Update • P. 4

Spotlight • P. 5

Join us • P. 6

SOUTHDOWN PANTRY CLAIRE HENWOOD, COMMUNITY WORKER

We've opened a pop-up pantry in Southdown, along with our partners Bath YFC, YMCA Brunel Group, Southdown & Whiteway Church & Community Partnership and St Barnabas Church.

It's been very popular, and within a week 45 households had signed up! We have a great volunteer team, with a mixture of brand new volunteers and some of our existing volunteers, and brilliant new team leaders from our partners.

It's a very different space to our city centre, but runs in the same way - at the moment we're open every Monday afternoon at the Roundhill Centre on Mount Road. We've been very fortunate to receive financial support from Feeding Britain and St John's Foundation to cover all of our set up costs, and are applying for funding to cover staffing costs to turn this into a permanent pantry. A huge thanks to Feeding Britain and St Johns for their support!

d fresh fruit an Some of the

by FareShare veg delivered

Our well stocked p antry at the Roun dhill Cent re rs Ian, One of team leade rs signing in membe

To find out more about our food pantries visit www.oasisbath.org/projects

Pull Up a Chair is our brand-new collective fundraising campaign, designed to raise awareness and funds for our community work at Oasis Hub Bath. So much of the work we do and host involves a chair – we gather chairs around a dinner table as we share food with Make Lunch families, we invite those struggling with addiction to pull up a chair and access vital support from those who have been where they are. From plastic chairs to sofas, all our work involves the wider symbol a chair offers - inclusion and welcome, support and friendship, safety and community - where everyone is included, makes a contribution and reaches their potential.

Our fundraising campaign will be based around this simple idea of invitation and welcome. What we hope this looks like practically, is a number of independently organised fundraising events and activities taking place from July - December 2021, which must meet the following criteria;

They involve a chair, or chairs in some way They enable others to get involved and join in They raise awareness of and funds for Oasis Hub Bath Could you be a part of Pull Up a Chair? You can keep it simple and small, or you can go big and do something crazy! Your chair, your choice. You can organise something on your own, or do it with some friends. Here are some suggestions of things you might like to do; 1.

You could host a dinner party or an afternoon tea, where you invite people to give a donation to attend.

During the event you could spend a few minutes talking about our pantry and the work it does to provide affordable food to those on low incomes, or play a video of one our staff talking about the project.

2.

You could do a sponsored walk with a group of friends between chairs/seats in famous places in Bath, taking a selfie at each one to show your supporters your progress. At each chair you could post a different fact about the work of Oasis on your fundraising page or social media channel.

3.

You could use office chairs at your workplace to have a chair race or obstacle course, inviting colleagues to pay a small fee to take part and having a prize for the person with the fastest time. You could send an email to those colleagues about the work of Oasis, linking in our 2020 impact report for them to read.

If you're interested in holding a Pull Up a Chair event or activity, let us know!

Just email welcome@oasisbath.org

MAKE LUNCH UPDATE CLAIRE HENWOOD, COMMUNITY WORKER

July sees our final food parcel delivery for Make Lunch. We switched last March from running face-to-face holiday clubs with activities and hot meals, to delivering bags of food and activities to up to 80 households each holiday. This summer marks the end of those deliveries, and we're aiming to finish off with a really great offer to our families. Our theme is Family Adventures, and we're encouraging families to get outdoors together whenever possible, while providing ideas of what to do indoors too, including our "make to give" section, encouraging gifting to others in the community.

Bath

The activity booklet includes family walks and nature trails, and lots of nature based art activities to have a go at. We're providing picnic equipment and recipes, and outdoor toys such as aero howlers, kites and pavement chalk. There will be plenty for indoors days too, with sensory activities, mindful colouring, junk modelling and a brilliant kids science magazine. There will be plenty to keep our families occupied over the summer!

We'll be taking some time now to talk with our families about what they really want from Make Lunch next, and will update you with more news in due course. In the autumn, we're planning a volunteer "thank you" event with our Make Lunch and Pantry volunteers, to say thank you for their tremendous efforts over the last 18 months in particular. They really have made such an outstanding contribution!

STAFF CHRISTMAS DO! In July we finally had our twice cancelled staff Christmas do! It was amazing to have all our team together in one place for the first time ever...and the puddings were great!

Our team is so much wider than our staff of course, but this lot are the reason we can do so much of what we do. Whether it's lugging tons of food across the city, registering and welcoming pantry members, organising and communicating with volunteers, keeping our building safe for all those who use it or designing beautiful publicity to help tell people about who we are, our team are constantly working behind the scenes to keep our charity running. So we want to say a big thank you to our staff team, and to all those who support and work with them!

SPOTLIGHT In this regular Hub News feature we interview someone involved in or connected to the work of Oasis Hub Bath.

Lisa Martin

Pantry Admin Assistant, Oasis Hub Bath

Tell us a bit about your role and what you do...

I spend a lot of my time speaking to new members and also all of the volunteers that help run both of the pantries. I update A LOT of spreadsheets and send a lot of text messages, trying my best to keep everyone informed about what is going on whilst ensuring we are compliant and hopefully helping things to run smoothly.

What's the best part of your job?

The people. I love talking to and meeting the members and volunteers, being able to welcome them to the pantry. I love just being part of something that is really making a difference.

Tell us about a time you knew the pantry was making a difference to someone's life.

One member that I spent quite a long time with on the phone before they made their first visit came up to me and talked about how after their first visit they went home, listened to a podcast, got their chopping board and knife out, and for the first time in ages cooked for the whole afternoon with all the lovely fresh food that they had bought. They said that it was so relaxing, and they felt like they actually had a purpose. I (obviously) nearly cried when they told me this.

They also love the Landrace bread!

Lisa's role is funded by:

What's the most challenging part of your job?

Going to Landrace bakery every week to collect the bread and not buying a cinnamon bun! They are delicious as is their fabulous bread.

That and learning how to use an android phone!

To donate a Landrace loaf to our city centre pantry visit http://tinyurl.com/pantryloaf

Join Us!

There are loads of ways to get involved in the work of Oasis Hub Bath. Reading this newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with all we're up to so if you want to make sure you receive this direct to your inbox, four times a year, let us know by emailing welcome@oasisbath.org. Here are some other ways you can be a part of what we're doing...

Volunteer...

From helping members choose their shopping at our Oasis Pantry, to being a listening ear for our kinship carers, there are loads of different volunteer roles at Oasis Hub Bath. Even a couple of hours every few weeks could make a real difference to someone in need, so if you've got some time to spare get in touch and we'll find the perfect role for you.

Give...

You can now give by text! Just follow the instructions on the picture on the left.

The best way to help us is to give each month by standing order. To download a standing order form visit the donate page on our website: oasisbath.org/get-involved/donate

Don't forget to follow us on social media too! @OasisHubBath

@Oasis_Bath

oasisbath

Oasis Hub Bath is a registered charity (no.1138904) and part of Oasis UK. To contact us email welcome@oasisbath.org, and to find out more about us please visit www.oasisbath.org