A Huge Thank You to All Open House Supporters and Volunteers!
A huge thank you to all Open House supporters and volunteers - we could simply not exist without you all! Here is a little run-down of our latest escapades…
Ever busy (as you can see from our statistics below), Open House continues to serve the community, led by our faith in God and our desire to do his will. We have many loyal volunteers representing most of the churches of Shaftesbury, as well as some of no faith. Our achievements are somewhat unquantifiable, we just know we are doing the right thing as many of our clients tell us.
Open House Stats 2024
What’s more, we have won two prestigious awards this year: the Gold Weldmar Hospice Care Community Support Award (Local Business Awards) and the Shaftesbury Rotary Caldwell Award 2024! A wonderful testimony to our fantastic volunteers’ efforts! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to know more.
We have also just had another wonderful Christmas party with more than 150 guests. All clients who have accessed Open House services during the past 12 months were invited to the Christmas party, which means we sent out over 200 invitations! Although not everyone was able to attend, the party was a huge success, and many clients expressed it was the highlight of their year. The food was great, and the children were entertained with crafts, dancing, chasing bubbles and a visit from Father Christmas.
At the end of the day, every guest went home with a jam-packed hamper and a gift for each of their children, thanks to the kind donations we received from local churches, Virginia Hayward, and the customers at Tesco, as well as clients of Melbury Motors, the Royal Chase Hotel, and visitors who braved the stormy weather to attend the Berwick Crafts event. Photos of the party can now be seen on our Gallery, Facebook and Instagram pages.
Open Fridge Stats 2024
Open Fridge has now also been open for almost 3 years and still proves to be very popular. Since the beginning of this year, we have redistributed 16,152.88 kg of food to 4,978 visitors. Most of this food came from supermarkets and other local stores but we also received many private donations.
While the Open Fridge started out as an effort to help reduce food waste, it has now become a lifeline to many of our visitors, with volunteers often telling stories of how grateful the ‘Fridge’ users are! It is good to know that we are able to help so many people in these difficult times!
Thank you again to all who have helped make all of this possible, your help is invaluable and we hope you will all have a truly blessed 2025!