H.O.P.E. in Community stands for Helping Others Positively Engage in Community and was founded by Peter Robertshaw in September 2017. It started as a community group and soon turned into a charitable incorporated organisation.
Peter started H.O.P.E. in Community for many different reasons. He has experienced abuse, bullying, and being labelled as a failure himself and wanted to provide a safe place for fun family activities. Suffering from depression, anxiety, struggling to celebrate his own achievements, and being diagnosed with learning disabilities Peter also wanted to provide mental health support to people. Lastly, with H.O.P.E. in Community Peter wanted to help people build up their confidence, health, and wellbeing. All this while also being a devoted family man and managing the ups and downs of family life.
H.O.P.E. in Community’s journey started in September 2017 and has been an exciting one since. To summarise our journey:
· September 2017: Board of Trustees formed, plans made, and funding applied for.
· March 2018: ‘Cooking on a Budget’ course launched.
· July 2018: ‘Healthy Holidays’ launched.
· January 2019: ‘St. Georges Toddlers Club’ launched.
· October 2019: ‘More the Merrier Multi-birth’ toddler group launched.
· March 2020: Holiday packs delivered to families or collected by families due to Covid-19 pandemic.
· May 2020: Listening service launched.
Moreover, we are always looking for new ways to help our local community and we are planning on launching the following services soon:
· Wednesday Social Club: mental health support group.
· Saturday Social Club: mental health support group.
· Job support service: to support people into work.
All this work we do is in line with our core values, which are:
Enthusiasm- We want people to enjoy their time with us and take an interest in developing themselves
Optimism- We want all our clients to be hopeful and confident about themselves and their future as we believe everyone can achieve anything
Empowerment- We want everyone to be able to use their own power and skills to achieve their plans
Peter likes to add an extra value to this for him personally which is to be an Encourager to help everyone see their full potential
All the work we have done has not gone unnoticed. As a charity we have received the following recognition for our work in our local community:
Central Area Council Awards 2018:
Shortlisted Best new community Group
2018 Barnsley Mayors parade best charity (Runner Up)
Central Area Council Awards 2019:
Kingstone Ward Over and Above Award Peter Robertshaw
Kingstone Ward Best New Community Group 2019
Kingstone Ward most Active Volunteer Award - Orrion Barrent
We are immensely proud and thankful for these recognitions, but we love most to see the difference we make in people’s lives.
Moreover, everything we do is in line with our mission statement, which is:
“To build the confidence and resilience of individuals and families by improving their health and wellbeing”
This is our mission statement because our aim is to help individuals build up their confidence by showing them basic skills and to give them the opportunity to meet people with similar experiences. Additionally, our goal is to improve their health and wellbeing by looking at diet, mental health, stress, money management, and exercise.
If you would like to pe a part of our exciting journey of H.O.P.E, please do get in touch. We are currently recruiting new Trustees & Volunteers.
