THE GATE
FROM CAROLINE STEVENS, CEO
Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter from The Footprints Project in 2024. There's good news to share as we enter the new financial year and welcome two new trustees to the Project. There's also a plea for help as we look for a new, permanent home. The Footprints Project continues to make a difference in your local community, helping vulnerable people make fresh starts and create brighter futures in Dorset and Hampshire.
As always, we are grateful for your support.
Caroline.
GRANT INCOMING
We’re delighted to announce that The Footprints Project has successfully secured funding for a new well-being project that will benefit our participants. Following an application to the Suicide Prevention Fund, we were awarded a grant of £5,900 in March. The money will be used to create a well-being wallet and workbooks for use by our existing cohort and some who we’ll be working with upon their release. The wallet will be credit card-sized and concertina-style, giving quick and easy access to important telephone numbers, websites and other information about the services our participants need. The workbook will provide a simple, easy-to-use journal and record book for anyone returning to Hampshire and Dorset.
Caroline Stevens, The Footprints Project CEO said: ‘This will be a fantastic resource for those we support, so many of our participants struggle with their mental health and need quick, easy access to help. Grants like this take an awful lot of time and energy to apply for so it is great to see the government giving money to those who really need it.’
FANCY VOLUNTEERING WITH US?
Are you interested in helping to make your community safer and happier? We’re holding an open evening on June 6th where you can find out more about volunteering with us. Some of our volunteer Fresh Start Mentors will be available to tell you about their work as mentors with prison-leavers. Staff will also be on hand to tell you more about what we do and all the other ways you can get involved. There’ll be some short presentations about the people we help and produce from our allotments and T-shirts made by our art group will be on sale.
Where: The Atrium @ Regus, 19 Oxford Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8GS
When: June 6, 2024. 5pm to 8pm
Booking is essential: Footprints Open Evening
WELCOMING OUR NEW TRUSTEES
The Footprints Project welcomes two new trustees to the charity this year.
Lady Elizabeth Toulson is a barrister and national chair of the Royal Voluntary Service and the Children’s Society. She’s also a Trustee of Not Beyond Redemption and an assessor for the Hardman Trust.
The Very Reverend Stephen Waine is a vicar of six parishes in West Dorset. He was previously Dean of Chichester, and before that Archdeacon of Dorset.
We’re looking forward to working with both new trustees and benefitting from the enormous amount of experience and insight they bring to The Footprints Project.
A FRESH START FOR ART?
Our community art group needs your help! Our weekly art sessions are a valuable and much-loved resource for the women on our Out of Court Diversionary Programme. The group is run by Bournemouth artist Samantha March and participants create t-shirts, tote bags, prints and other products to sell at markets and on our webshop. It's a popular group and we want to expand it, but we need a new space to hold sessions. If you own a space or know of one that might be suitable for this weekly group, please let us know.
Contact Helen@footprintsproject.co.uk
As always, we need your help and support to keep our vital work in the community going. Donations to the Footprints Project can be made via the Donate button below. There's always more news and information on X and the blog (links below.)
