2019 Shortlist | St Peter’s Community Wellbeing Projects
St Peter’s Community Wellbeing Projects
Shortlist – Improving Impact: Charities with 0-3 paid staff
Who they are
St Peters Community Wellbeing Projects is a user-led, grassroots charity supporting some of the most disadvantaged people in Bethnal Green, particularly BAME women, their families, and the elderly. To achieve its aims, the charity organises free activities including exercise classes, information communication technology sessions, healthy cooking clubs and community gardening therapy. Community volunteers are central to delivering each session.
The charity won in this category in 2017, and has been shortlisted once again for its demonstration of the board’s continuing ability to improve impact.
What they’ve achieved
The charity’s objectives are to enable and empower disadvantaged BAME women and girls, and their families, to improve their personal circumstances through education or training, employment or volunteering, and active social participation. For 2017-2018, the organisation found that 96% of service users reported overall improvements to their mental health and wellbeing. Among them, 92% of its programme participants reported increased confidence in participating in community activities, engaging with peers and seeking out new opportunities within their community. At the same time, 94% of participants reported that they felt more ‘useful’, and 90% reported that engaging in these activities decreased their feelings of isolation and loneliness. Overall, One elderly participant said, ‘I am so comfortable here. I can be myself, I don’t have to behave in certain way or act differently. I can talk with others in my own language and also make jokes and be friendly.’
Why they were shortlisted
It was clear to judges that St Peter’s Community Wellbeing Projects sees user involvement as crucial to achieving impact. Involving users in all projects, strategic planning and developing their capabilities to become trustees, has allowed the charity to tailor its support to the needs of its service users. Once on the board, trustees volunteer their time acting as the executive committee to manage the day-to-day operations and delivery of services, only employing part-time specialist staff to deliver specific programme elements such as tutoring sessions and development workshops. The board also strategically appoints trustees to steering committees to be responsible for individual programmes, according to trustees’ areas of expertise or relevance to their past experiences as participants in those programmes. To measure the impact of its work, the board undertakes extensive monitoring and evaluation through questionnaires, face-to-face interviews with users and volunteers, and anecdotal evidence from professional personnel.
