September Community Heroes
Each month, we celebrate Community Heroes across Northamptonshire. These organisations are working tirelessly to improve the lives of our county's most vulnerable residents, and we're very proud to support them.
To read more about each Hero, have a look at our Community Hero of the Week column in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, published every Thursday.
Northampton Irish Support Group
Northampton Irish Support Group caters to the needs of the elderly and vulnerable Irish community across Northamptonshire.
The group focusses their work on four objectives: improving mental health and wellbeing, promoting social inclusion, supporting Irish culture and teaching digital inclusion.
Northampton Irish Support Group were recently awarded a grant from the Northampton Queen’s Institute Relief Fund, via Northamptonshire Community Foundation, to expand their weekly Wellbeing Cafe.
The Café already provides hot food, hot drinks and snacks every Thursday, as well as group activities designed to improve visitors’ wellbeing. The additions enabled by the group’s grant award will include art classes, fitness classes and chair yoga, alongside popular suggestions put forward by current customers like beauty treatments and nail painting.
African Youth Arise
Based in Northamptonshire, African Youth Arise (AYA) is a charity focused on inspiring young people to be better versions of themselves.
AYA provides support and guidance, as well as opportunities to connect to Afro-Caribbean history and heritage to young local residents. Their recent projects include starting a youth choir using African musical instruments and running workshops for young people from BAME communities.
The Musical Roots choir project was set up to give British African heritage youths the space to learn and understand their rich musical heritage. The workshops covered a range of topics, which were determined by feedback AYA received from young people at their events and activities, and included growth mindset, personal branding, public speaking, career development, financial literacy, storytelling, and drugs and county lines awareness.
Living Well Occupational Therapy
Living Well Occupational Therapy was established in July 2019, to support Northamptonshire residents living with chronic illnesses and long-term health conditions.
The free services provided by Living Well include activity-based group sessions, days out, exercise classes and educational opportunities. These activities are designed to empower participants to live well and thrive beyond their condition, and to take control of their own health and wellbeing.
Clubs for Young People Northamptonshire
The team at Clubs for Young People Northamptonshire (CYPN) are working to educate young people through leisure and informative activity sessions.
Participants are encouraged to become active members of their communities as CYPN works to build community cohesion, break down communication barriers and eradicate the negative perceptions that often surround young people.
CYPN covers rural Northamptonshire and was recently awarded a grant from Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s Rural Community Needs Fund, to support their youth provision in Litchborough and surrounding villages.