Mental Health Awareness Week
From the 9th – 15th May it is Mental Health Awareness Week. This year, the theme is loneliness, something that we can all relate to after the Covid-19 pandemic. It said that loneliness and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day… so it’s time to start talking about it.
Whether you’re struggling to make connections, anxious about meeting new people or just caught in the chaos of everyday that makes balancing our social lives seem impossible, this week we encourage you to make an effort to reach out to someone you know who might be struggling with loneliness. This could be a simple text message, or an excuse for coffee and cake!
To spread the word, post your catch ups on social media and nominate 5 friends to do the same using the hashtag #hammersleyhomes
So close!
As some of you will know, we have been working very hard these past months on a change-of-use application we submitted to the New Forest National Park Authority for a property that we were hoping to purchase for our very first Hammersley Home. It is a guest house in the middle of the New Forest, and we thought it would be perfect for us.
As reported in the Daily Echo, and in spite of considerable local objection, our application was approved.
Unfortunately, it was not plain sailing from here…
The day before the planning meeting, the vendor accepted an offer from another buyer. After having been on the market for two years, this was a great disappointment. We have, however, learned a lot from this experience and will continue the hunt for our first Hammersley Home with even more rigour.
Granted!
After feeling the blow of the sale of (what we hoped to be) our first Hammersley Home, the universe gave us a boost with some incredible news!
We are extremely grateful to have received a £15,250 grant from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Fund! With this donation, we can expand our Outreach Programme further and support even more vulnerable people in the New Forest Area. With an ever growing waiting list, this was much welcomed news and we look forward to meeting and working with our new clients.
My Giving Circle
Thank you again to everyone who has voted for us and donated to Hammersley Homes via this platform. We are SO close to receiving a share of their £300,000 annual grant. With just a few more votes, we could really make a difference to some of the most vulnerable people so please vote for us!
If you really want to spread the love, you can even vote once a week!
It’s a quick and easy process and would mean the world to us and those we support.
To get voting, click here!
Tesco Community Grants
We are still a part of the Tesco Community Grant schemes until the end of June. This scheme gives community projects like us grants of up to £1,500 so if you are local, please remember to drop your tokens into the Hammersley Homes Community Box! See participating stores below.
Lymington High Street – SO41 9AP
New Milton – BH25 6BP
Lymington South Street Express – SO41 8GN
Lyndhurst Express – SO43 7BH
Brockenhurst Express – SO42 7RB
Old Milton Road Express – BH25 6DN
Highcliffe Express – BH23 5HD
Thank you – your votes mean a lot to us!
In the news
- Mental Health Foundation CEO opens up about his experiences of loneliness and the importance of social connections.
- Loneliness is hard for us all, so what if you are already suffering with poor mental health? Things can be even harder. This study evaluates the interventions in place for loneliness and poses the questions: when we should intervene, who should intervene and do we really know enough about loneliness?
- Feeling lonely? You are not alone. Mind offers some tips on managing loneliness for those who are struggling and Scarlett Moffatt opens up about her experiences and what she did to ease the burden on loneliness.
- If you are exploring your own mental health, or just curious to find out more about the issue, Mind offers a great introduction to causes, stigmas and treatments for those who are struggling.
Meet the Team - Saoirse Osborne Our Social Media Guru!
When did you start volunteering with Hammersley Homes and what prompted you to offer your skills to their project?
I’ve been volunteering with Hammersley Homes for just over a year. My aunt suffered from schizophrenia and lived in supported housing for the last 20 years of her life (with home visits like the ones Hammersley provides for some time before that). Her illness was too debilitating for us to care for her within the family so supported housing was crucial. Yet she had to enter private housing because government provision wasn’t adequate – so I know how important charities like Hammersley are.
So, when I saw an advert for the role on a volunteering network site it seemed an obvious choice.
What exactly do you do for them?
I help to manage Hammersley’s social media platforms, posting about fundraising initiatives or relevant news items. I also contribute to a weekly blog with longer articles about mental illness and supported housing.
What are the best things about volunteering and what do you enjoy about it?
I’m interested in a career in homelessness services once I leave school, so researching mental illness/supported housing for social media content has proved genuinely interesting and usefully informative.
I volunteer remotely but can stay in touch with other volunteers online: cooperating in working towards our shared goal helps give me purpose and a sense of community.
Any tips for others who might be considering offering their time and skills to help a good cause?
Start off by sitting down and thinking about exactly what sort of role you’re looking for – how much time can you give? How flexible can you be? What skills can you offer? This is particularly useful if you’re looking for a role on online volunteering networks like Volunteer Now!, where you can filter roles to suit your interests.
Support our work
Please spread the word about our vital work OR DONATE just £3 a month to change a life, by texting 3HOMES to 70580.
If you are able to make regular donations to Hammersley homes, be that £1 or £10, the progress that we can make would be enormous. If you’re considering regular donations, please click the donate button below or visit the Giving Circle. As always, thank you for all of your support! We really couldn’t do it without you.
Texts cost £3 plus two standard rate messages and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give £3 but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text 3HOMESNOINFO to 70580.
Hammersley Homes – Registered Charity Number 1180673
