Marmalade Trust are creators and hosts of Loneliness Awareness Week, a campaign which raises awareness of loneliness and empowers everyone to make connections across the UK and worldwide. 

It's all about creating supportive communities by having open, honest conversations. Loneliness is a natural human emotion - we are hardwired to need social connections. By talking about it, we can support ourselves and others. Launched in 2017, the campaign centres on a powerful message which resonates with many, and continues to grow in momentum each year. 

Loneliness Awareness Week 2024 was our biggest and furthest-reaching campaign yet. We saw a huge growth in the number of individuals, businesses, organisations, and schools who got involved, and it was fantastic to see over 3,000 connection-building activities take place.

Visit marmaladetrust.org to learn more about our charity and the important work we do!

2023-2024 was the year for celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Migrant Help, and on Thursday 22nd February an Art Exhibition and Auction was held at The Old Music Hall to fundraise for those using Migrant Help services. 

In total 21 pieces of artwork (technically around 150 if you counted all the handmade cards) were donated for sale from 11 contributors across Migrant Help and beyond. In addition to this, 16 pieces of art from a number of survivors of modern slavery were provided for display purposes only. From the event, the fundraising goal of £1000 was reached!

One of the most poignant descriptions for an artwork contributed by a survivor of modern slavery read:

“The photographs are an artistic representation of exploitative situations I repeatedly found myself in while living as an undocumented immigrant in London. Externalising in this way the drudge, dependency, and confinement I experienced, helps me create a distance to these events and to some degree neutralises the pain associated with them.”

The reception across Ethical Property's The Old Music Hall was overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to hosting future art exhibitions from Migrant Help!

Read their full blog here: 

Our Strides Community Hub in Kennington is a space shaped for and by the community, with room available for local groups to run courses and workshops. It’s where we also run a cost of living and budgeting drop in centre for people in the local area.

We provide affordable accommodation for keyworkers in London, enabling them to save for rental and shared ownership deposits. We work with men leaving prison, supporting them in their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. 

Through our partnership with Westminster City Council we offer people in work but experiencing homelessness their choice of an Airbnb, homestay, or similar for up to 3 months, anywhere in London, alongside professional coaching.

Read more about our programme here! 

And here:

www.strides.org.uk

Strides (@stridescommunityha) • Instagram photos and videos

Kinship is the leading kinship care charity, operating across England and Wales. Established in 2002, we have over two decades of experience delivering services, campaigning and leading kinship care research.

Kinship care is when a child is raised by a family member or friend; it keeps children out of the care system and significantly improves the child’s long-term outcomes. Across England and Wales there are approximately 141,000 children growing up in kinship care.  

In our 2023 Forced Out report, based on a survey of more than 500 kinship carers, 68% said their employer didn’t offer any support to kinship carers. More than 4 in 10 (41%) kinship carers told us they had to leave work permanently and a further 45% were forced to reduce their working hours.

Find out about our Kinship Friendly Employer scheme via our social media and website:

Website – www.kinship.org.uk

Facebook – @Kinshipcarecharity

Instagram – @kinship_charity

X – @kinshipcharity

LinkedIn - @kinship-charity

Demand Logic has been shortlisted in the 'Excellence in Sustainability - Product' category at this year’s London Construction Awards. This award category celebrates innovative and outstanding products that benefit both the industry and the planet.

The London Construction Awards celebrates achievements, developments and innovation across the UK’s booming construction industry and features a wide range of categories for solution providers, suppliers, contractors, architects, civil engineers, developers, local authorities and more. 

Demand Logic has earned recognition for their data-driven approach to de-risking construction projects. Demand Logic's platform stands out by analysing real-time operational data to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, validate property performance, maintain design parameters, and address predictive maintenance needs. Demand Logic's commitment to sustainability and efficiency helps drive the construction industry towards a greener future.

Find us at:

https://www.demandlogic.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/demand-logic-limited/

People seeking asylum in London face food insecurity and malnutrition, but there is scope for local action. Sustain’s recent report released in partnership with Jesuit Refugee Service UK and Life Seekers Aid demonstrates that basic needs are not being met for people seeking asylum in London.

Sustain’s Food Poverty Campaign worked with partners to conduct focus groups, interviews and workshops to gather experiences of people seeking asylum and frontline workers relating to food and the changes they would like to see.

The report outlines shocking outcomes for physical and mental health, particularly in children, highlights case studies of good practice, and makes recommendations for action at the local and national level to make change. Read the report now to find out the key areas for local action and recommendations, and watch back the webinar to hear from researchers and participants about the project.

Link to report:  https://www.sustainweb.org/reports/mar24-food-experiences-of-people-seeking-asylum-in-london/

Link to webinar recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PriK5WFaJUM

Follow us on X: @foodpoverty_uk

Sign up to the food poverty campaign newsletter: https://www.sustainweb.org/foodpoverty/

Earthsight's latest campaign - stemming from a year long investigation - is drawing attention to the links between fashion consumerism in Europe and North America and large-scale deforestation, land grabbing, human rights abuses, and violent land conflicts in the Brazilian Cerrado.

They say:

'For many years, global attention has focused on the devastating crimes against people and the planet in the Brazilian Amazon's forests, driven by the beef and soy industries. There is a growing awareness of the need to address the impacts on the Amazon of what we eat. However, similar destruction in another crucial South American biodiversity hotspot, driven by a different commodity, has gone largely unnoticed'.

Read their full statement here - 

And find them on social media:

Twitter/X @ Earthsight

Earthsight.org.uk

The Value the Caring Economy Campaign is a campaign led by 10 organisations in Bristol representing its diverse communities: Bristol Black Carers, Bristol Women in Business, Bristol Women’s Commission, Bristol Women’s Voice, Carers Support Centre, Chinese Community Wellbeing Society, Co-Produce Care, WECIL and Women’s Budget Group.

We are asking the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), Bristol City Council and the national government to prioritise care in their policies and manifestos. This is especially for those with caring responsibilities (paid carers, unpaid carers, parents), care workers and those who may be cared for.

You can find out more about the campaign with this short film: https://youtu.be/Mzivm6bduSM?si=bnt3pobYsfQNRujG

Read more about what we've achieved here: 

Step Into Schools at St Paul's Learning Centre

Step Into Schools is a programme run by the Workers' Educational Association designed to prepare learners to begin their careers in education. It was developed in order to meet the needs of local communities, many of whom were keen to start working in schools, but not necessarily sure where to start.

The Step Into Schools programme provides wrap-around support to learners in their journey to working in schools, including in-person classes which enable learners to achieve formal qualifications, and take part in collaborative learning alongside others who are also passionate about education and a career working in schools.

One learner said:

"I have finished today, and my whole placement experience was amazing. It was a wonderful opportunity for me, working practically in a class. Teachers were so friendly and helpful in Year 2. I got to learn a lot from this volunteering."

Find out more here! wea.org.uk