We (Ebberston Village Hall) are always looking for new ideas for events to organise that help to bring in the income we need to maintain our hall, but we especially like the sociable events that bring villagers together. To that end, we held our first village breakfast in January. It went down so well with brilliant feedback on the day and on the village Facebook group that we held another in March where we again served almost 60 cooked breakfasts in 2 hours! Another one is now planned for July.

As a small charity, our small size means we can act on an idea quickly. It is lovely to know that at each event we are bringing about a morning of conversation, helping to make and renew friendships and most importantly of all provide a true sense of what it means to be a community.

Our small charity is Low Bentham Public Hall and Village Institute, a bit of a mouthful, I know. We are located on the main street in Low Bentham. Physically, the institute constitutes a hall, kitchen, conservatory, meeting room and snooker room all of which can be hired separately or in any combination along with the use of toilets and a fully accessible toilet.

The building is well used; the Community Link Café, Helen Howard School of Dance and Kay’s art group are weekly users. Events such as parties and weddings also take place. None of this would happen without the hardworking committee, which is what I really want to highlight.

As an entire committee, we meet about every two months. The discussions and decisions that take place at these meetings are supported by an enormous amount of work ‘behind the scenes’. This work includes researching and making grant applications, keeping and publishing the accounts, energy audits and following these up, building maintenance and of course incidental fund and profile raising by public events such as coffee mornings and afternoon teas.

All the committee are volunteers and give their time in order to further the offer to residents of Low Bentham, High Bentham and further afield. Low Bentham Public Hall and Village Institute is not only physically at the heart of Low Bentham it is also in the hearts of its committee members and a vibrant pulse of village life.

Low Bentham members of the Community Link Café

The Island is a well-established York charity committed to supporting some of our city’s most disadvantaged, vulnerable and isolated children and young people. We strive to deliver impactful services (Counselling, Tuition, Mentoring, Youth Groups, and Educational Support) that provide islands of time and space and that unlock and enhance young people’s potential and quality of life.

Our Research Officer Ben has been hard at work putting together case studies about the transformative impact of our work. For small charity week, we want to share the story of Jasper, one of the young people we have recently helped through our mentoring service. Recently, our Research Officer completed a testimonial interview with Jasper’s guardian Paul as part of his Case Study Project. Paul felt ‘beholden to do’ a testimonial’ to give ‘something back because of how much The Island’s done for our family.’

When Jasper was first referred to The Island, he struggled with life; Jasper ‘had temper problems at Primary School and home’. He had a tough early childhood, receiving physical abuse from his dad, eventually leading to his grandparents taking him on as special guardians.

Shortly after Jasper’s referral, we matched him with one of our volunteer mentors Karl. Jasper’s guardian, Paul, explained that a flourishing relationship followed: ‘Karl is worth his weight in gold if you could duplicate Karl for every kid, that’s what you need.’

Jasper and Karl did many weekly activities together during their one-year mentoring relationship. They are both sporty and often played badminton and football together. Most importantly, though, their strong relationship meant Jasper felt comfortable expressing his feelings to Karl about his difficult early childhood. Previously, Paul had struggled; he ‘couldn’t get through to him’ on this.

Where Jasper was previously struggling, he is now thriving thanks to his mentoring relationship. His educational attainment has massively improved, and Paul noted how they currently get emails from his teachers about his positive academic progress. At the same time, his confidence and emotional regulation has also got much better. Paul puts these positive changes down to The Island: ‘The amount that The Island’s done for him you just can’t put it into words really, you would have to see the before and after. I always say that it’s got to be the best thing that’s happened to him. If you land on anything, then we landed lucky when we made that first phone call [to The Island].’

If you want to involve volunteers in your organisation, but aren’t sure how to get started, we can help.

For more information, head to our Volunteering in North Yorkshire page.

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