Gift wrapped for charity

This year the YMCA is Queensgate’s charity of the year, and will be providing a gift wrapping service in the heart of the shopping centre to help shoppers, raise awareness and also raise some cash – every penny of which goes to helping young people. The Moment talked to Ian Knibbs, Fundraising Manager for YMCA Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, about the event, how people can get involved and the charity’s vital work

Christmas is coming, so let’s begin with gift wrapping… What will you be doing?
At the beginning of 2016 we became Charity of the Year for Queensgate, and part of that opportunity was to host the Christmas wrapping service in Queensgate itself. It happens outside John Lewis, and we get our volunteers together and charge a small fee for people to come and have their presents wrapped by volunteers and members of the YMCA. All of that money then goes to the YMCA and the good things it does. That will be for the whole of December – end of the day on Christmas Eve will be the last slot that we do.

Are you still on the lookout for volunteers to help?
We have various organisations already involved – Norwich and Peterborough are going to help us out, Queensgate are putting people in, plus we’ve got Peterborough Rugby Club, the Women’s Institute and many more coming forward and graciously offering their time to help us raise funds. We do still have lots of slots to fill, so we’re looking for as many organisations or individuals to volunteer as possible and we’re going out to community groups, churches, the WI, rotaries – anybody who could spare a few hours to help wrap Christmas presents.

Are special wrapping skills required?
Not really! We will have a few trial goes, but I think everyone will be pretty good. We will also have members of staff there, so there will always be people to help out, which means even children and families can come – our staff are all PBS checked so everyone can feel safe and secure.

Are people generally aware of what the YMCA does?
Very few people really know what we do. According to national research that we did, 90% of people are currently aware of the YMCA – and generally that’s because of the song! Everybody chuckles about that, but it’s absolutely true. And yet, even though we have been around since 1852 and are the world’s oldest and largest youth charity, only 4% of that 90% have any idea what we do.

How would you sum up what you do?
We are a community charity that focuses on outcomes for young people. That’s it in its simplest form. What that means in practice is that we have five core strategic areas that we focus on: support and advice; accommodation; family work; health and wellbeing and training and education. That might involve dealing with mental health issues, in school, right the way through to providing holiday fun activities for kids so their parents can go to work. We predominantly work with young people between the ages of 7 and 28, but we will work with any member of the community who has a positive effect on young people. For instance, we will help people find employment if that is going to have a positive effect of the lives of young people in that household.

Are there common misconceptions about the YMCA?
A lot of people think we have youth hostels and get us mixed up with the YHA, but our accommodation is for people who really are in a crisis situation. They often come to us with no money and no chance of getting employment or benefits, because they have no photo ID and therefore can’t set up a bank account. So we are the last resort for them. But we pick them up, dust them off and put a plan together to start moving them forward. That can involve finding them employment, helping with training and education, literacy skills, dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. It’s about making them able to start functioning again in society. But there are the positive things, too – youth clubs, holiday clubs, fitness classes – to help young people have a positive experience. Those things are just as important to us. At the moment, for example, we’re getting sponsors to pay for pantomime places for kids in foster families and in care, so they can come and see panto for the first time ever. That means those kids, who otherwise would never get the opportunity, can come along and enjoy the magic of Christmas.

To find out more about how to volunteer, contribute or support the YMCA’s work, go to www.theymca.org.uk

Queensgate Shopping Centre’s Charity of the Year

In June this year, Queensgate Shopping Centre announced its partnership with the YMCA Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and named them its charity of the year for 2016-2017. This annual support is an important part of the shopping centre’s calendar and forms part of its ongoing engagement with the local community. For the chosen charity, it brings opportunities to increase their profile and raise essential funds over a 12-month period. Last year, Bloodwise (formerly Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research) was Queensgate’s charity of the year, a process which comes from a simple application launched at the start of the New Year.

Emma Jane Jones, Regional Manager at Bloodwise, said: ‘Working with Queensgate has been a fantastic opportunity to connect with both the community and retailers of Peterborough. We have been able to meet many new people touched by blood cancer and have been able to promote the research that is taking place locally in the East of England.’

‘Working with charities is incredibly important to us. We like to work closely with our charity of the year and give them the space in the shopping centre to get themselves in front of our customers, explain what they do and how people can help,’ said Mark Broadhead, Centre Director at Queensgate Shopping Centre.

He adds: ‘There is a wonderful spirit and kindness about the local people in Peterborough, the generosity of this great city is quite humbling. Local people can support our charity of the year through the many events and activities planned across the year – these are fun and hugely rewarding for all of us.’

Previous charities of the year for Queensgate have raised as much as £12,000 with single events raising an impressive £7,000. Queensgate Shopping Centre continues to be a supporter of charities throughout Peterborough, including The Royal British Legion, Spurgeons (through the Giving Tree at Christmas), Peterborough Cathedral and many more. www.queensgate-shopping.co.uk  

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