In the offices above the New Hope charity shop on Queen’s Road, Richard met with the Chief Executive of the charity, Mike Smith. Having mostly worked with children’s charities in the past, Richard had a lot to learn from what Mike had to say about New Hope.
After the visit Richard said, “This is certainly a fantastic charity that does so much for all aspects of the community. It helps the homeless with over 50 beds in their various places of accommodation. It provides programmes that give people useful skills and the confidence to help them move onwards and upwards in life. Volunteers gain a lot of pleasure from helping in the shops and in dealing with the homesless. Also the general public can pick up some great deals at the second hand shop and the splendid carpenters’ shop a little further down the road!”.

Indeed, the charity has grown a lot since it began 20 years ago and serves the public in so many different ways. There are now 130 people volunteering for the organisation with 40 alone working in the shop.

Richard then added, “I’m very keen to become involved with new hope in anyway I can. Whether it is helping with fundraising or helping out at the day centre, I don’t mind. I think this is a great charity and I’d love to be part of the invaluable work that they are doing”.

This is a superb example of charities carrying outa public service and generating a real community spirirt that is sometimes lacking in the UK today. It really goes to show that government intervention is not always the best remedy for asocial problem. Rather, it is the community that can make the big difference.