Community creativity for fundraising and relationship building in Croydon

Last month, staff and residents at our Lillias Gillies House community in Croydon came together to create homemade jewellery, cards, bookmarks, worry stones, and beautiful original artwork for their stall at the Coulsdon Easter Market.

Together, they raised an incredible £166 towards buying communal outdoor and sports equipment for their community, which will help support their physical and mental wellbeing.

Activities like these are an important part of our therapeutic program at CHT, as they bring residents together in enjoyable ways and encourage positive risk-taking. They also support building confidence and new skills that residents can carry with them after leaving our communities

Residents identified the need for accessible outdoor equipment that everyone could enjoy during one of our regular community meetings. Together, they created a list of the items they would like: a table tennis set, badminton equipment, a free-standing punching bag, and a hammock for relaxing in.

With support from Therapeutic Practitioner, Elodie, they cocreated a fundraising plan, organised the stall, and came together as a community over several week to create their beautiful craft items (pictured below).

The money raised along with the positive feedback from the public on the day (who remarked on how beautiful the craft items were), and the market organisers offering stall space for future events has been really encouraging for our Lilias Gillies House community, who are now planning more activities to help them reach their fundraising target of £370.

To find out more, or support their fundraising, please visit: https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/lillias-sportsquipment