West End Impact

West End Impact is a Christian charity but not exclusively for church people, our faith inspires us to do what we do, but we include anyone. In the beginning we opened our doors and provided a free meal for those who were finding it hard to make ends meet. Our strategy was not to have a strategy, but to help people in whatever they were struggling with. That was the starting point of what has developed over the last 21 years. As we saw the needs, we developed our services to meet the needs. Instead of starting programs we thought were a good idea, we got to know the people over free food, and then organically established the programs together around the struggles the clients shared with us.

WHAT WE DO

Reacting to Crisis
Crisis is often the first point of contact. It usually starts with us providing a free meal or food parcel (from our small food bank) and then, as we get into conversation, we assess the needs. However, people do also just pop in for a chat as they know we provide help in many ways. We have set up 2 weekly Advice & Guidance sessions where people receive advice on Benefits, Housing, Budgeting and Well-being. Laptops, free Wi-Fi and use of the telephone are available at these sessions.

Rebuilding Lives
‘Re-Building Lives’ includes various projects to help just that. Our therapeutic art group INNOVATE, which helps with confidence and builds self-esteem through creativity. INNOVATE has developed over the years and so we opened an art shop/gallery social enterprise called THE RE STORE. This has given opportunity for volunteers to gain experience in retail in a shop setting. It has also helped many people to develop their art and crafts, gain AQA qualifications and sell their products. We recently opened a second shop ‘RESTORATION’ which specialises in restored future. We are teaching volunteers how to French Polish and fully restore old furniture.

We have volunteer opportunities with helping provide our community meals, our food bank, building maintenance and generally helping in the day to day running of the centre. We give volunteer training and full support and mentoring to people.

We also run a 10 week course called ‘LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL’ which is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based course for people suffering from depression, stress, anxiety and low-mood. The course is followed by lunch and our INNOVATE art therapy group as part of our ‘Well-Being Wednesdays’. We are a very welcoming community of people who understand from experience.