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Hello and welcome to the Catching Lives July update
It’s been another busy month at Catching Lives, with highlights including clients showcasing their work at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, a BBQ for our hardworking volunteers, a lino printing workshop, and trips to Herne Bay and Canterbury Cathedral for garden visits. Excitingly, we have three people doing sponsored events to raise much-needed money for us this summer.
Our CEO, Tasmin, spoke at an event on Ending Rural Homelessness and press coverage has included a BBC Radio Kent interview about our Root To Resistance garden project with Lucy Platel from Herne Bay in Bloom.
A message of Hope
Art created by Catching Lives clients is part of an exhibition going on tour around Kent. The Hope Community Arts Exhibition, which aims to raise awareness of suicide prevention and spread the message “There is always hope”, launched at the Turner Contemporary in Margate on Tuesday 18 July.
It was a great afternoon that showcased work from artist Alex Boican’s Nervous Drawing and Painting workshops, funded by Kent County Council’s Hope Community Art Fund. The exhibition is at Fremlin Walk in Maidstone before journeying to Chatham Library and Community Hub then the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. You can read all about the workshops, exhibition and tour dates here.
Springing Into Action
Three Catching Lives supporters are raising money for the charity by taking part in sponsored events. Matt Gillett, a former kitchen volunteer who recently moved into full time work, is walking from Canterbury to Margate on Monday 7 August. His JustGiving page is here. Alex Knights, one of our kitchen volunteers, is running the Canterbury Half Marathon on Monday 28 August. You can sponsor him here. Businessman Paul McCartney visited the Catching Lives day centre in early July and has decided to run The Big Half – a half marathon in London – on Sunday 3 September. His sponsorship page is here.
All three men have shared why they decided to raise money for Catching Lives in an article on our website, which you can read here. Please do show them your support if you can.
Taking root
The Root To Resistance garden project is gaining momentum and clients were hosted by Herne Bay in Bloom at the Memorial Park garden earlier this month. They also visited Canterbury Cathedral garden for inspiration and ideas. Lucy Platel from Herne Bay in Bloom did a BBC Radio Kent interview about the project on Thursday 27 July. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project so far. You can read more about Root To Resistance here.
Thank you!
We would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in the past month and beyond. We really value your efforts. A big thank you to our amazing volunteers at our day centre and bookshop. A special mention to kitchen volunteer Trevor, who shared how he turned his life around as part of Alcohol Awareness Week.
Thank you to everyone who has responded to our call-outs on social media, including generous donations for a DIY project to help two of our clients who had recently experienced illness and isolation. Thanks to Wye Village Community Choir and The Old Wives Lees Community Choir, and Cranbrook Symphony Orchestra for your fundraising concerts. And thank you to Rock, Paper, Scissors for the opportunity to screenprint our new bookshop tote bags.
Can you help?
Our DIY project to help two clients feel comfortable in their homes has seen donations in-kind and via JustGiving of furniture and paint, but we still need homeware vouchers to finish the job! Please contact Emma, Catching Lives Manager: emma@catchinglives.org
One of our students would like to play backgammon with clients – do you have a board or two you no longer need? Contact info@catchinglives.org. Please keep an eye on our social media where we regularly put call-outs – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. We also have some volunteer openings, for further information, contact: volunteer@catchinglives.org
And of course, we always welcome financial donations via our JustGiving page.
Thanks for reading. We’ll bring you another update in August.
