Christmas Late Night Shopping

We had a great night last Friday for the Late Night Shopping.  Hassocks was really buzzing, and we did a roaring trade - no doubt the free wine and nibbles helped! We took almost £500 on the night.  Thanks to all the volunteers who helped, and to all our lovely customers who came along and supported us.

September Newsletter

Please click on the link to have a look at our most recent newsletter.
www.humanityatheart.org.uk/newslettersept14.pdf

Summer at the House of Roses

Thanks Linda for your update on the summer's activities.

The four young residents in House of Roses have benefitted enormously from a busy and active summer. They have made a productive vegetable patch in the garden and extended the chicken run. This has provided a regular supply of fruit, vegetables and fresh eggs.

They have been taught to do everything themselves, from digging the ground, planting seeds, labelling, watering and picking the produce. As well as making immediate use of the produce they have also learnt to dry the herbs, make jam and bottle up fruit and vegetables for use through the coming winter.

They also enjoyed 2 weeks in summer camp with young children from very poor families and children with disabilities. As well as having fun they helped with cooking, collecting water, emptying the toilets etc. For the last 5 days they were joined by 2 of their friends with whom they had grown up but are now sadly living in inappropriate conditions in state care. It is hoped they will be joining the House of Rose family sometime this winter.

The regular donation from Humanity at Heart is enabling these young people with learning disabilities to be rehabilitated from the effects of previous bad experiences in state care and learn to lead normal and busy lives in their community.

Volunteer Tea Party

We had a lovely afternoon enjoying tea and cake at Kiki and Cole in Hurstpierpoint.  Luckily the garden had plenty of shade as we chose one of the hottest days of the summer!

Summer activities at Speranta Colonia, Petrosani

Adina and her team have once again planned many exciting activities for the local children during the summer holidays, both in the centre and outside enjoying the beautiful Romanian countryside.

We added a few photographs with some activities from the "Summer Club" with the children which made at "Handy hands" little fishes from cd-s (we are teaching the children to recycle materials) and fruits with worms. With a part of the children we went in a hike at our favourite place, at the "Lake with yellow lilies", where we had a great time and it was extraordinary.

Stella's work experiance

Hi, I’m Stella, I am in Year 10 (My first year of GCSEs) and this week I have been doing my work placement at the Humanity At Heart charity shop.

It has been really lovely to come to the shop again as I have been here many times before, since my Aunt is the Manager – though this time as part of the staff instead of a customer. I was welcomed by fellow volunteers and very quickly assigned my jobs. The rest of the staff here are all lovely and easy to chat to, since it’s a very relaxed and welcoming environment.

During the week I have been working in the sorting room as well as out in the shop:

sorting donation bags, steaming, tagging and pricing the clothes, shoes and other knick knacks; before taking them out into the shop and hanging them on the rails. It’s been really fun to learn the running of the shop, and I have learnt a lot about a working environment and I really enjoyed it. I have learnt that, although you can chat to the other staff and have a nice time – for example on Wednesday we celebrated Jean’s birthday with cake and tea – it is always good to help out whenever you can and stay focused on the task at hand. For example, cleaning and hoovering at the end of the day; making tea and handing out biscuits; and just getting on with your job without complaining – there is always something you can do to help out if you've finished all of your own jobs. My experience with Humanity at Heart has been really good fun as well as eye opening into the world of work. Thank you to all the volunteers who have been so kind and helpful throughout the week, you have made my work placement very enjoyable as well as educational.

House Of Roses

I've just had a lovely update from Linda, telling us how things are going for the 4 youngsters living at the House Of Roses:

Activities in House of Roses are based around trying to build up the residents confidence and self esteem. The aim is to encourage independence and for them to live as normal a life as possible. For many years in Romania people with disabilities were hidden away, and confined to institutions. It is important that people with learning disabilities are seen in public and accepted as valued members of society.

The four young people frequently go into the town and it is important that they know how to behave appropriately in public and they have many activities that require this. They regularly attend church (a service in Romania can often be 2 hours or longer), they have occasional outings to cafes where they are always polite and well mannered, they take it in turns to help with the shopping, they are learning to use public transport and they often visit the local park.

At home the youngsters have a rota and carry out most of the routine household cleaning tasks independently eg. washing and drying up, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, laying the table, feeding and cleaning out the animals. Other tasks, such as ironing and cooking still require supervision. The girls have learnt to prepare a couple of simple meals independently. The boys help with peeling vegetables and other kitchen tasks but cannot be left without supervision.

Their days are also filled up with a wide variety of craft activities, music and movement, simple mathematics and just having fun eg. sledging and playing in the snow. The girls have twice been invited to a local hairdressers for a free treat of a hair cut.

Humanity at Heart supports House of Roses with a donation towards the salaries of 2 of the care workers. Robert, one of these carers will sadly be leaving in April. He has been wonderful at helping the young people settle in to their new lives and will be greatly missed. It is also possible that his departure will cause some disruption as the youngsters have to adapt to someone new.

The project is proving to be a great success. Our youngsters are now known to many people living in the town and they are regularly greeted warmly by passers by.  This in itself is a great step forward.

More photos from the Mother's Day festivities at Speranta Colonie

Spring Activities at Centru Speranta Colonie (Hope for the Colony Centre)

Adina and her wonderful team of staff and volunteers have been busy.  As you can see from the photos below, they are working with the children to prepare Mother's Day gifts and celebrations, and also sorting a huge donation of books to form a new library at the Centre.  It is great to see the connections made between the children who attend the various clubs, the older teenagers and the elderly members of the community who come each week to the Centre.  This Care for the Elderly club is excellent, and the number of attendees continues to rise as people come to appreciate the benefits of this social enterprise. The Centre really does reach out to all members of the Community.  Well done Adina and her team.

the new library books

Youth Club meeting

Making cards for Mother's Day

Preparing the song for Mother's Day

Dorin 

Mrs. Dumbrava with volunteer Marius

A meeting of the Elderly Club

Enjoying coffee and a chat