MHA Communities - Warm Spaces Projects

Winchester Young Carers - Transport Support

Winchester Street Reach - Warm Space

'Winchester Boxing club opened its doors seven years ago. Starting out in a small hut offering a couple of sessions a week, the club is now home to over 300 members with boxing sessions happening seven days a week'

• Raised £4,057 from 51 supporters
• +£2,000 +Extra funding from Winchester Communities Positive Change Fund

Fillip, the club's head coach, has opened the doors wide to Winchester's community with a special emphasis on inclusivity. He's done a great deal to promote boxing in the area and the varied demographic of their 300 members is testament to his hard work to get members of all ages and genders into this club.

The club prides itself on being a safe place to learn, practice and socialise. To ensure the safety of all who wish to use it, in June 2020 Winchester Boxing Club successfully crowdfunded over £4,000 to install a defibrillator and upgrade their equipment. With the equipment now purchased and installed, the club is ready but with the impact of the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns, gyms like this have had to adapt.

"As per the guidance issued by England Boxing, we had to stop all sparring, pad work and competitions. This left us in a situation like teaching swimming without being able to get into the water"

Despite crowdfunding during the first national lockdown Fillip was glad to find the support he needed through their online community:

"The response, it was really good. We managed to hit our target quite well in advance of our final few days of crowdfunding. We got a lot of support from people in Winchester, namely the adults who train with us and the parents of the children who attend our sessions".

During a time that was fraught with worry and uncertainty, it was a challenge to capture the public's attention which was very much distracted.

"Direct communication proved to be the most effective way in which to reach people and much more efficient in gaining a response. There's a lot of information on social media, you have to be direct"

According to Fillip, after the first lockdown, they were left with only 10% of their members. They are confident they will bounce back but it will be a long journey. Due to this shortfall in finances, they would have never had the money to buy this equipment upon reopening. He said, "We will therefore be much more prepared to receive everyone after having done this crowdfunding campaign, £2,000 of which we received in extra funding from Winchester City Council.

After using the spring and summer months to continue as much of their training as possible outside, they look forward to welcoming people back into their gym. As Fillip says

"people tend to think that boxing training is mainly just punching each other in the face - but they are 95% wrong! Each session gives you a full body workout including skipping, technical work, bag work and some fitness circuit work, to wear out the bit of energy you'll have left".

Boxing has gained huge popularity in recent years and Winchester Boxing Club has managed to promote both its physical, mental and social benefits.

"The gym is somewhere to feel welcome, to get fit and make friends" and it was therefore well placed to benefit from the Winchester Communities Positive Change Fund, a council directive aimed at supporting those tackling isolation, low income, homelessness, mental health and physical inactivity.

Plugging the shortfall in support for creative industries during COVID-19 and ensuring a future for the next generation.

• Raised £6,600 from 93 supporters
• +£2,000 +Extra funding from Winchester Communities Positive Change Fund

Winchester Creatives are a not-for-profit social enterprise, that evolved from an industry networking event series into a progressive community platform. They combine extensive experience across the creative spectrum in Winchester to support and develop the next generation in their journey into the job market.

During the pandemic, Winchester Creatives successfully crowdfunded £6,600 from nearly 100 supporters,  helping to fund mentorship opportunities and an apprenticeship programme for young people (20-24 year olds).

Richard Coope, the founder, said;

"To close this gap, we'll be offering five student placements on the Winchester Creatives apprenticeship scheme. The five apprentices will have a specific set of skills, this will allow them to form a fully functioning creative agency working on briefs set by our sponsors, for six months starting in January"

Volunteers Week 2021

Home Start’s core service involves our amazing volunteers visiting families with young children in their homes. The families are all going through difficult times, maybe suffering from loneliness and isolation, relationship difficulties, ill health or disabilities, lone parenting, financial troubles or multiple births.

With lockdown such weekly visits came to an abrupt halt and our staff team and volunteers switched to telephone, video calls or doorstep visits.  We continued building relationships and kept channels of communication open in whatever ways were possible.  The delivery of food parcels and childrens’ playpacks became a regular fixture for isolated households.  

We supported families who were shielding children and parents who were being shielded; we saw families through relationship breakdowns, illness, chickenpox, mental health issues and new arrivals. And we have been there for families living in high rise flats, one room in hostels and overcrowded homes.

This is a personal story from Melissa, who has been a volunteer with us for five years.

“I met my family in November 2019, we had three months of getting to know each other, meeting weekly, cuddling and playing with the children in their home, attending school meetings with the family, travelling on buses and in taxis. Then lockdown started.

It was such a shame – and the timing felt terrible.  Mum and I had built up quite a lot of trust and we were working through child development and self-esteem issues. So, we decided together that I would continue to visit her every week with social distancing, on her doorstep.  My weekly visit changed to bringing food, toys, books and checking in with mum and the children. I usually stayed for 30 minutes to an hour listening and discussing any worries.

During the year Mum’s family unfortunately suffered three significant traumas. A close family member became seriously unwell, another was involved with the police, and finally social services became involved causing much anxiety and worry. I had many phone calls through this time with the Mum but I feel the face to face meetings were even more valuable.

A year later I am extremely proud of my family. The  children are more settled.  The eldest is managing much better at school and the youngest has started pre-school and is very happy. The children get on better together and Mum is much more confident in her parenting.  Her self-esteem has significantly improved: the difference in her and the children is really noticeable."