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Helping keep families connected with King's charity partner

01 September 2020

With in-person activities suspended and funding limited, COVID-19 has put a strain on many charities working in King’s local communities in London. From the outset of the pandemic, local charities and partner organisations were connected with volunteers from across the King’s community. One of these charity partners was Home-Start Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest.

Home-Start trains volunteers to support local families with young children who are facing difficulties. As one of the partner charities in the King’s Civic Leadership Academy, Home-Start is part of a programme which connects King’s students with charities that are working to address some of London’s most complex issues at a local level.

Olivia Capozzi, Development Manager (Arts & Sciences and International), volunteered her professional skills in fundraising communications and was matched with Home-Start Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest through the #ContinuingToServe initiative, which brought together, strengthened and celebrated the many ways in which King’s people have made a difference throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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‘I wanted to give back because I saw how the charity sector was being affected and how many staff were being furloughed’, she said. ‘I was particularly interested in how we were helping our local boroughs during the pandemic.’

Olivia worked with Fatmata Bah, Director of Operations at Home-Start, to develop a new narrative and opportunities for storytelling as the charity moved from face-to-face home visits to supporting families remotely.

These conversations helped the charity to identify a priority to fundraise for a BAME Family Coordinator as Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

‘Working in a grim funding climate, Olivia provided support and worked tirelessly with Home-Start Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest to develop a GoFundMe page to help source income for the organisation’, says Fatmata.

It was important to Olivia to support a charity that was already connected to King’s. This was especially the case with Home-Start, which creates a brighter future for young people in King’s local communities, as well as providing opportunities for current students through the Civic Leadership Academy.

‘Programmes like the Civic Leadership Academy create life-changing opportunities on both sides’, she explains.

As a partner in King’s Civic Leadership Academy, we understand that the wider environment more often than not converges with the internal environment. Our one-to-one work with children, young people and families helps to reduce isolation, build self-esteem and confidence and encourage family members to aspire to further learning and future employment. Beneficiaries we work with will one day be students and employees at King’s as a result of support provided by Home Start Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest.– Fatmata Bah, Director of Operations, Home-Start Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest

To support Home-Start, Olivia used a day and a half of her Service Time, the three days King’s staff are given to undertake voluntary work. Having this time to dedicate to volunteering has also allowed her to be a phone befriender for Stroke Association during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Olivia is keen to encourage colleagues to use Service Time to volunteer their skills, particularly if that brings an added benefit of supporting King’s local communities.

‘For me it really solidified the Service element of being at King’s. When you experience it, it brings you closer to King’s mission’, she says.

‘King’s is so connected to lots of different areas of London and lots of different charities so there really is something for everyone, and you will really get something out of it.’

Find out more about Home-Start Haringey and their project to recruit a BAME Family Coordinator.

Find out more about the King’s Civic Leadership Academy and becoming a community partner.

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