Together in the Community campaign launched
Albion in the Community has signalled its commitment to continue helping people in Sussex during the Covid-19 crisis by launching a new campaign: Together in the Community.
The charity usually runs upwards of 60 different projects throughout the local area, supporting more than 43,000 people; a recent economic impact report also found Albion in the Community generates more than £28million of positive local impact from the £3million the charity invests in its work each year.
The temporary closure of most of the community venues used by Albion in the Community, however, has meant much of its regular delivery has had to be postponed.
The charity is as determined as ever though to continue supporting people here in Sussex and staff have been coming up with new ways to provide that often vital support.
Launched today, the Together in the Community campaign will see the charity focus its efforts on three key areas: helping people get active; helping people stay well; and helping people keep learning.
Matt Dorn, Albion in the Community’s chief executive officer, explained: “As a charity we remain as determined as ever to continue to support the people we work with and staff have been working hard over the last week to focus our efforts on the three key areas of our new Together in the Community campaign – areas where we are confident we can have a big impact.
“We know, for example, that around 40% of children and young people in Sussex do less than the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise outside of school each day. That can have a significant impact on their physical and mental health. With most children now no longer attending school, where many of them will have been getting some exercise, that inactivity at home becomes an even bigger challenge.
“Our football coaches have been producing videos teaching children football tricks and setting challenges all based around getting active at home or in the garden.
“We also currently support more than 100 people living locally who have, or have recently had, cancer. Usually they would attend a weekly physical activity group and we know that staying active before, during, or after cancer treatment is incredibly important. Cancer doesn’t stop just because our sessions can no longer take place, so we’ve been finding new ways to support these people, offering online on-to-ones with our cancer rehabilitation coaches, live sessions on Zoom, and YouTube videos people can follow in their own time.
“We’ve also been delivering live lessons and online qualifications to many of the young people we work with, and colleagues have been making regular calls to check in one some of the more vulnerable people we support.
“As a prominent charity in the city and the wider Sussex region, we have a responsibility to do our bit to support our community throughout this crisis and we are absolutely committed to doing so.
“We have some exciting plans to expand our work further over the coming weeks to give extra help to those most vulnerable in our community.”
All of Albion in the Community’s resources are available for free HERE and more will be added as the weeks go by.
Albion in the Community will also be sharing information and resources linked to the Together in the Community campaign via its social media channels.