Kingston Rotary researched local needs (often inviting representatives to Zoom Club meetings to find out more), identified emergency needs and devised COVID-safe fundraising opportunities in order to support an impressive number of smaller local organisations during the year.

The Club showed great initiative in raising funds, for example, by holding competitions, selling handmade items at local street markets, growing and selling large quantities of plants and, within social distancing rules, visiting streets at Christmas with a COVID-safe Santa sleigh.  More funds have been raised from generous donations by individual Club members and grants have been successfully applied for from wider Rotary funds.

The Club provided support in the community, especially smaller organisations, making donations and grants (ranging from £250 to £2,000 each),  providing support in kind, eg by providing toys, socks for the homeless, Christmas cards and gifts, and offering volunteer assistance, eg  by making items for sale, sewing scrubs and masks and volunteering at foodbanks. A calculation of volunteer hours spent on various projects is difficult to quantify but as one example, the sewing project between April and June 2020 produced 252 laundry bags taking 38 hours; 24 knitted hearts for the Royal Marsden Hospital 8 hours; 44 cloth face masks 15 hours and 6 sets of scrubs 30 hours. This is just the tip of the iceberg!

Our Impact: 

• Anstee Bridge (Anstee Bridge is an alternative learning programme for young people aged 14-16 facing emotional challenges that cause them to struggle and disengage from education)
• Kingston Foodbank: regular monthly financial donations from individual Club members in lieu of lunch fees throughout the pandemic
• Kingston Samaritans; donation for sanitisers so that the phones could be manned safely
• Staywell Centre:  financial donation
• Kingston Welcare: support for families with mental health issues. Financial donation
• Kingston University COVID Emergency Fund: donation
• Kingston Hospital: donation in partnership with New Malden Rotary Club matched by a grant from Rotary District Fund contributing to rest room facilities for the staff
• Homestart: financial support for educational activity packs for vulnerable families
• Kingston Scrubbers Group: sewing scrubs, laundry bags and masks for care homes; financial contribution towards the cost of materials
• Kingston College and Kingston Adult Education: Annual Adult Achievers Awards: certificates presented to 30 deserving students remotely, in recognition of their achievements in spite of personal difficulties 
• Primary School Children: Illustrated dictionaries presented to Year 6 students in 3 Primary Schools. An annual project which proceeded in spite of restrictions
• Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness: a ‘sock mountain’ (170 pairs of new socks)  collected from members for homeless clients and money from the 2019 Fireworks fund for sleeping bags
• Refugee Action Kingston: ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’: partnership between Kingston and New Malden Rotary Clubs to provide 20 ‘Santa Sacks’ of 25 gifts in each sack for refugees.
•  Four local care homes: In partnership with New Malden Rotary Club, 200 Christmas cards written individually by members and distributed to residents
• A Kingston women’s and children’s refuge: Money donated to the charity Kids Out to pay for toy boxes to be distributed to children with strict confidentiality maintained.
• Save the World Club: Donation made from the Club’s 2019 Fireworks profits for their foodbank; information- gathering visit by 3 members; volunteering at the foodbank.
• Home Farm Trust: successful application made by the Team to Rotary District’s COVID Fund matched by club funds  enabling a donation to be made for learning disability support
• Cambridge Road Estate Community Trust (CRest): successful application to Rotary District’s COVID Fund matched by club funds enabling a donation to be made for food distribution
• Voices of Hope: donation from 2019 Fireworks money for food preparation
• Doing a Bit, run by Old Wimbledonians:  donation from the Fireworks money for food preparation   
• Yorda Adventures: (Yorda Adventures is a not-for-profit community organisation that works with families in and around the borough of. Kingston-upon-Thames) a donation together with Chessington World of Adventures towards Christmas presents for 200 disabled and disadvantaged children
• Kingston Vinyard (Growbaby): donation from 2019 Fireworks money to support Kingston families with baby supplies

Some responses received from organisations

Wow, this is incredible. Thank you so much to all the members of the club…thank you again –it’s amazing (Homestart)

We are collecting over 1 ton of food feeding 1000 mouths a month. Thanks to you we can afford vehicle costs and keep this essential service going until this crisis is over. Your £800 donation (from Fireworks money) will make a real difference. We reach people off the radar. One volunteer found a 90 year old woman with no food in her fridge or freezer. She burst into tears in her doorstep when she saw the food. Now we can reach more like her (Save the World Club)

We are most grateful to you …for helping us to continue bringing hope and practical care in this time of widespread challenge and uncertainty.( Voices of Hope)

Many thanks for sending over the certificates for the students. As always it’s great working with you. Many thanks! ( Adult Achievers Awards: Kingston College tutor)

Thank you soooo much, that is the best news I have had since starting this ball rolling.  Funding has been holding us up,..  I have about 30 ready to start sewing once we get the material that I hope to source tomorrow (Kingston Scrubbers) 

Thank you so much for your support and the generous donation collected by the Kingston Rotary Club. (Kingston Foodbank) 

Christmas is always tough for families in refuge, with this year set to be harder than usual. Most children arrive at refuge with only the clothes on their back, restricted to a single room with their mother and siblings. Mothers struggle to provide basic essentials, let alone toys for their children at Christmas. With 78% of families in refuge with no access to a TV, you can only imagine the difference these toys will make (Kids Out Charity).

The women in the Refuge are feeding back that they were so grateful for the gifts. One woman said ‘I honestly had the best Christmas eve,. Another, the kids were beyond happy and humbled by their gifts (Refuge Support Worker)

The bags [Santa Sacks for refugees]  look so lovely , thank you so much to all the Rotarians who donated them we really appreciate your support and I know the clients will be so happy to receive them (Refugee Action Kingston)