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Love thy neighbour?

Your social

responsibility

We make a living by what we get, but we make a

life by what we give - Winston Churchill

Weve all done it! Walked passed that lonely depressed and vulnerable person sitting on the cold stone pavement huddled up in a sleeping bag. Of course, youre minding your own business, going along your merry way, getting along with your own busy life. But have you ever stopped to consider why they are sitting there? Its not my problem I hear you say? So whose is it? In life we are taught to treat others as we would want to be treated and to share with one another what we have, to Love thy neighbour. So why dont we? Why are we not socially responsible for people within our community? Being socially responsible means that people and organisations must behave ethically and with sensitivity towards social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Striving

for social responsibility helps individuals, organisations and governments have a positive impact on development, business and society with a positive contribution to bottom line

results

Youth homelessness is a very serious issue within our community, and each and every one of us can play a vital part in being part of the solution and make our community a place where we all take care of each others needs, especially our young people. DID YOU KNOW.80,000 young people experience homelessness each year often through no fault of their own..... And these figures fail to account for the growing number of hidden homeless living in poor quality hostels or on friend's sofas. The most common cause of youth homelessness is family breakdown, usually with parents or step-parents. For many this is a consequence of long term conflict within the home and often involves violence. For others they may have recently left the care system, suffered abuse or bullying, been released from prison or suffered from mental health issues or bereavement.

Social Responsibility P.1

CEO Update P.1

Resettlement P.2

Trusts & Grants P.3

Upcoming Events P.4

LAMP prevents homelessness through education, outreach and mediation support.

LAMP builds positive young lives through skills training, motivation and mentoring, opening horizons for our young people and speaking up for them wherever needed.

The young people we work with will all have suffered from isolation and a lack of support throughout their short lives. Mostly all they need is safe and secure accommodation, guidance and support and a sense of respect and compassion things they will have never received before. Once we provide them with these simple things, so many of the young people we work with at LAMP go onto lead positive and independent lives. At LAMP we understand our social responsibility and accept that were part of a thriving diverse community. Every LAMP employee, volunteer and supporter accepts their individual social responsibility, which means the engagement of each person towards the community where they live, work and play, which can be expressed by taking an interest in what is happening within the community and understanding the issues faced by the local community as well as playing an active part in solving some of the local issues. Be the change you wish to see in the world

- Mahatma Gandhi We can all make a positive change to the community that we live in and be part of developing those who are most vulnerable within our society. By partnering with us at LAMP you will become part of our ongoing mission to prevent youth homelessness and help us build positive young lives. Together, we can provide young homeless people within our community, with a safe place to live and support them through our Centrepoint Lifewise skills training which will help them to move on towards positive and successful independent living. By partnering with us at LAMP you can join us in achieving our social aim, either by donating, volunteering, fundraising etc.,. For further details please contact us at [email protected] or call us on 01582 431744.

We look forward to partnering with you!

NEWSLETTER

Spring 2015

CEO Update We move into 2015 with an expectation of great things to happen at LAMP!

Our new office move was completed on January 26th without any loss of service cover or lack of support for our young people due to a great effort from the whole team and some good friends notably David, Luke and Kath and the great guys from NOAH.

The small team at LAMP has grown with new members joining us during the first few months of 2015. This will boost our capability in key areas to better support our young people as they prepare to move on to employment and independent living, and to enhance our capacity to deliver our program in Bedford.

As we move into our 20th year you will be seeing some exciting events and initiatives that I would love you to get involved with, some are outlined in this newsletter.

I am really looking forward with hope and confidence as LAMP continues to serve the young and vulnerable homeless that continue to come to our door with nowhere else to go in both Luton and Bedford.

THANK YOU PUDSEY!

We are delighted to announce that

we have been awarded a grant

from Children in Need to part fund

a new project at LAMP which is

aimed at providing a specialised

support service to our young

people.

This project will be run by a new member of

staff, Karen Cummins who as part of this project

will be running the highly accredited Centrepoint

AQA Lifewise courses as well as networking in

the community to build contacts to aid our

young people into getting into the right training

and employment opportunities.

SPORTING SUCCESS

Our young people in Bedford have

started football training at AFC

Kempston, and this is going really

well. The football coaches have

pointed out that there is an awful lot

of genuine raw talent and are hoping

to get them into the league teams

very soon.

We are also extremely proud of one

of our young people who has

received a trophy in recognition of

his hard work and dedication to his

boxing...Congratulations!!!

EDUCATION

It is not only sports that our young

people are excelling at! All 10 young

people in Bedford took exams at

college before Christmas.

They have now received their results

and have done really well, with many

excelling far above their original

targets. We are very proud of all of

them for trying so hard to improve

their English, and for participating

well in their college classes.

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT

We have been exploring the subject

of lime scale, how and where it

forms and how to remove it safely

using household chemicals. An

essential part of managing your own

home is learning how to clean and

how to prevent it.

Our young people are continually

learning new life skills, such as

putting together flat pack furniture

for their bedrooms. This has been

well received by our young people.

HOMLESSNESS PREVENTION

WORKSHOPS

We are currently booking

dates for next year.

If you would like us to run a

Prevention Workshop please

contact Karl on 01582

431744 or send an email to

[email protected]

LAMP PROMOTES HEALTHY EATING

After identifying the needs

of our young people we

held a cookery session to

educate them on how to

cook healthy nutritious

meals based around their cultural

needs.

Firstly, we organised a shopping trip to

purchase fresh ingredient for their

specially chosen recipe of Chicken

Shawarma and Rice, which we taught

them how to cook from scratch.

The session went very well and staff and

clients enjoyed the food which was

delicious!

From this session, the young people

have learnt where to buy fresh

ingredients, how to budget and how to

cook healthy food.

DROP IN AT BARNFIELD COLLEGE

On 4th December 2014 LAMP staff

went to Barnfield College Technology

Campus to talk to their students about

youth homelessness.

We set up a stand in the Campus

leisure room and met many

students to talk about the work of

LAMP and the support available to

young people facing homelessness. We

encouraged them to seek help and

advice on how to minimise the risks of

homelessness.

We gave out leaflets, other

materials about LAMP and had one to

one sessions for those who

required it.

The event was well attended!

LAMP ALLOTMENT

Last October LAMP acquired an allotment at Stockwood Park, and as this was the harvesting period we were too late to plant anything. However, now that spring has arrived we want to get the allotment up and running. We are all novice plant growers here at LAMP so any advice and/or support would be much appreciated.

We have already kindly received a donation of garden tools. This was much appreciated & will be put to good use. All donations are welcome.

So if you are a keen and experienced gardener and have some good tips for us please contact me on [email protected].

At this time of year wed really like to know the best fruit, veg & herbs to grow.

RESETTLEMENT

LAMPS Charity Golf

Day 2015

This years our Charity Golf Day will be

held on Thursday 9th July at Luton

Hoo Hotel and Spa. It promises to be

a fantastic day of golf in lovely

surroundings and with great service

from the wonderful team at Luton

Hoo. Places are 65.00 per player,

260.00 for a team of four, to include

coffee and a bacon roll, 18 hole course

and a two course awards dinner with

raffle and auction.

To book your place or for more

information please send an email to

[email protected]

We are also looking for sponsorship

for this event and raffle and auction

prizes so please get in touch if you can

help or if you would like more details.

BECOME A FRIEND OF

LAMP

We know we have lots of great

supporters out there and we would

like to get to know you all a bit

better and to help you to help us.

So we are launching Friends of

LAMP. We are looking for people

who will help us tell everyone about

LAMP and the needs of our young

people, be ambassadors for LAMP

where they live, work, socialise or

worship and maybe help us fund

raise or share their skills. Please

think about becoming a Friend of

LAMP today. Another huge thank

you, this time to Rosa Capacchione

also from TUI for designing our new

Friends leaflets. To join us or for

more information contact Helen

Snowden on 01582 431744 or send

an email to

[email protected]

EVENTS-FUNDING-GRANTS-SUPPORTERS

CELEBRATING 20 EVENTS

FOR 20 YEARS!

This year we

are celebrating

our 20th year

and as part of

our

celebrations

we are asking

you to help us

raise funds and

awareness of

what we do.

We would like there to be 20 events in the

community this year, to highlight our 20 years

helping homeless young people. We will be

running a Golf Day and taking part in the

sponsored Sleepout as usual, but LAMP is a

small organisation with limited resources and

so we are asking local groups, schools,

churches, businesses and other organisations

to help us reach our target of 20 events.

We already have a childrens choir concert

registered and a swimming group doing

pyjama day for us which is fantastic, but it can

be anything from a cake sale to carol singing-

get creative and be as wacky as you like. We

have a brand new fundraising pack we can

send if you would like some ideas and we are

also running a Have Lunch for LAMP

campaign if you fancy a foodie event. If you

belong to a sports club, choir, church, golf club

or any other local group then please think

about whether you could put on event for

LAMP or choose us as your charity this year.

If you decide to run an event then please

register with us so we can keep our Website

and

Facebook page up to date and give you any

help you need. If you would like any further

information please contact Helen Snowden at

[email protected] or on 01582 431744.

Remember to send us your photos and most

of all HAVE FUN!

HAVE LUNCH FOR LAMP

We would like to make LAMPs 20th

Anniversary a really special year of

celebration with lots of exciting

fundraising events to help us secure our

future for another 20 years.

As part of our special year we are running

Have Lunch for LAMP to help us

raise money and introduce new people to

what we are all about. Very simply we

want you to have some fun, invite your

friends and family to lunch and ask them

to donate what they think is an

appropriate amount to LAMP; or you

could make it a birthday or anniversary

celebration and ask for donations instead

of gifts; or make it a community event and

get everyone together.

If you sign up we will send you some soup

and pasta recipes that we share with our

young clients and a couple of great cake

recipes that are favourites of ours in the

office, (especially for birthdays.) For the

first people to sign up we will give a goody

bag to get you started with Maltesers,

biscuits and some soup ingredients which

have been generously donated by Tesco's.

We can provide you with posters,

invitations, information leaflets, pull up

banners, collecting tins and even a

speaker if you would like one.

A huge thank you to Stephanie Taylor

from TUI for giving up her time to design

our lovely posters and flyers as part of

TUIs volunteering programme.

To sign up or for more information contact

Helen Snowden on 01582 431744 or email:

[email protected]

WELCOME TO LAMP JUSTINE WARREN

Hi Im a new support worker at LAMP and will mainly be based in Bedford with our young people there, however I am sure you will see me around

Luton as well. I am excited to be working for LAMP and although I havent been here long I am already enjoying this new challenge and being part of the team. I come from a background of care in most areas, my most recent has been in education. I am also doing a foundation degree in Child and family studies.

Hello! My name is Karen Cummins and I have over ten years experience working with and supporting vulnerable young

people to achieve a more positive outcome in adult life. I have recently taken up the new post as a specialist support coordinator at LAMP to facilitate the Centrepoint LifeWise skills course for our young people and also to help them to improve their education and employment opportunities. I am really looking forward to working with the LAMP team and giving the young people they support a brighter future.

LAMP

2nd Floor

15 New Bedford Road

LUTON

Beds. LU1 1SA

Email: [email protected]

www.lamp.community

Registered Charity Number: 1053555

www.facebook.com/LAMPLuton

Twitter @LAMPinLuton

CHRISTMAS GENEROSITY

We were overwhelmed

by your generosity this

Christmas. Local groups

and individuals donated a

fantastic amount of

Christmas food, money,

toiletries, selection boxes and Christmas

decorations to help our young people

celebrate Christmas.

A particular thank you to Gemma and

Express Vending for the selection boxes,

Blenheim Crescent churches for standing

outside all day and collecting food,

Barnfield South, everyone who donated

items and to the team from Rexam plc

who gave up their time to pack

everything into over 50 beautiful

hampers. You really made a difference to

our young clients this Christmas.

NEW LAMP DATABASE

We are very grateful to Love Luton and the

Steel Charitable

Trust for funding

our exciting new

database.

It promises to make

a huge difference to the way we work,

making it easier for staff to track our young

peoples progress and make sure they get

the right help at the right time.

A BIG THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who has

supported us already this year including

St Lukes, St Margarets, St Thomass

and St Christophers, Aley Green

Methodist Church, St Georges School

Harpenden, The team at TUI who

decorated their work pod for LAMP for

Christmas, The Watling Street Club, The

Ladies Thursday Club, everyone at KPMG

Milton Keynes who donated their first

hours wages, Wesleys Coffee Shop and

everyone who made cakes for us to sell

there on Valentines day, we really

appreciate everything you have done,

we couldnt do our work without you.

UPCOMING EVENTS & NEWS

KAREN CUMMINS

SLEEPOUT 2014

Nearly 70 people joined LAMP for

last years Sleepout on one of the

coldest nights of the year. It was a

record night for LAMP as we raised

over 8,000 and for the Sleepout as a

whole, 14 charities made over

52,000 which is an incredible

amount. A big thank you to new staff

member Clare Walker who brought

along friends and

family, Chair of trustees David

Woodward and his son, existing staff

members, John, Pauline and Paul,

Vauxhall Motors, Dunstable Explorer

Scouts, the youth groups from

Ramridge Baptist church, Luton

Christian Fellowship and St Marys

(who were the first people to order

pizza at a Sleepout!), the team from

High Street Methodist Church, all the

members of staff who slept out and

to everyone who sponsored us all

and helped us reach such a fantastic

total.

FAREWELL TO SHIRLEY COOMBER

We would like to say a

fond farewell to Shirley

Coomber who left LAMP at

the beginning of this year.

Shirley was our

Administration Assistant for the last 4

years and brought a wealth of knowledge

and experience to the charity.

Her calm and friendly personality helped

to create a pleasant working environment.

She will really be missed by both LAMP's

staff and clients and we wish her all the

best for her future endeavours.

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