Nourish, Connect, Support : Bardsey Youth Project's Coventry Winter / Christmas Charity Appeal
- rachel orman
- Oct 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 15
Did you know £5 can provide a warm meal for a young person in Coventry struggling during the winter period? Find out more below about our Coventry Charity Christmas Appeal.
The Problem:
During the winter young people in Coventry living on their own and lacking familial support face many issues. They often struggle with food insecurity and lack access to nutritious meals, impacting their physical and mental health. They also face real choices between heating and eating during the winter. This is because their age means they are not paid the full adult minimum wage, and usually nowhere near the national living wage. However, living independently they face the same seasonal cost increases as us all. The difficult choices they are forced to make between essentials not only cause stress and physical health problems, but has an impact to their ability to concentrate and maintain other aspect of their life such as maintaining employment and education. Both short and long term, this increases their risk of homelessness and serial homelessness.
However, young people also face increased barriers to accessing traditional winter provisions like all age warm spaces. Young people are used to mixing with people their age through schools and colleges. Anxiety is especially common among young people. Normal young adult worries exist about being stereotyped as 'youth', and the finding their voice and place in the adult world. Add to this the anxiety of cause by financial hardship, facing the uncertainty of homelessness, or needing to asking for help and this anxiety can feel overwhelming - leading a young person not accessing winter support.
The Solution:
Real accessible support for these issues must be offered to young people within their comfort zone. This means with people their age, and in a cosy relaxing environment. Three years ago Bardsley Youth Project launched the city's first young person-only warm space.
The space provides nutritious pre-prepared meals for vulnerable young people in a safe environment for socialization and essential help - a youth centre with trained homelessness support workers.
Donations made by people like you to Bardsley Youth Project's annual Nourish, Connect, Support campaign provide these essential nourishing meals in a warm and welcoming space for young people facing homelessness and struggling with the cost-of-living. For the young person in Coventry receiving the meal that you've donated, this means they face one less difficult decision between eating or heating over the harsh winter.
How You Can Help:
Donate an Amount That Suits Your Budget
Every £5 You Donate Provides a Warm Meal for a Young Person in Need.
For businesses who can donate please contact rachel@bardsleyyouth.org to arrange PR about the local impact of your donation on our social media channel, website, newsletter, in the press and more. This email can also be used to obtain tax receipts.
Host an online or in-person fundraiser
Whether you're hosting a raffle at your Christmas event or hosting a donation rather than gifts collection you can donate the proceed to the campaign. There are a few ways you can do this.
Create you fundraiser page on just giving linked to our main Nourish Connect Support Just Giving Campaign.
Raise the money, and then donate it to our Just Giving Nourish Connect Support campaign.
Contact us at rachel@bardsleyyouth.org for bank transfer details. And we will manually add your donation amount to the campaign total
