Well, our social media and blogs aften start with something along the lines of, 'We've been very busy recently', or, 'There's a lot going on'. It's still true, but that's because we're growing and expanding with new projects and more locations, all the while our core team has stayed the same, hence why we're so busy! But it really is great to be busy. A busy charity with lots going on is a good sign for sustainability and growth.
Now, to touch on the title of this blog, hArt really does need you!
hArt are bidding for a cash boost from the Tesco Community Grants initiative. Tesco works with community charity Groundwork to run its community funding scheme, which sees grants of up to £1,500, £1,000 and £500 awarded to local community projects.
Three groups in every community have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant, by way of putting the blue plastic tokens in the voting boxes.
hArt is one of the groups on the shortlist and we’re bidding for funding to run a creative wellbeing group in New Milton. This group, along with similar groups we run in Fordingbridge, Lymington and Hythe, will give local people a chance to be creative with a variety of arts and crafts, all within an open-style, safe and relaxing environment. They will be able to use materials they may not have access to at home, and they can express themselves through arts and crafts, all under the calm guidance of an experienced art facilitator and volunteer.
So, when you're in a Tesco store (Superstore and Express) in Highcliffe, New Milton, Lymington or Lyndhurst, grab a handful of blue tokens (My children literally grab a handful each time we go in and fill up the hArt box!) and help hArt continue to do good things!
Lastly, despie only have a month or so of Autumn left before winter arrives, the temperatures have, on the whole, been very favourable for this time of year, and just last week I managed to capture a lovely image of a cormorant drying out it's wings. The two images - taken from exactly the same spot on Friars Cliff beach, also go to show how far mobile phone camera technology has come up. Remember when zooming in even slightly resulted in awful, grainy images.
I hope you like those pictures. He/She was a big old bird, but looked wonderfully peaceful chilling out in the sun. So maybe, just for this week, we can all try and be a bit more 'Cormorant'. In other words, once the hard work is done, try to take a moment in your busy day to pause, reflect, and maybe even get ready to fly again!?
Have a good week everyone.
Take care, and (in your best politician's voice): "Remember to vote!"
Martin