Al Madina Community Centre

Amber Foundation Residential Centre

Aylesford Football Club

Barton Leisure Centre

Basingstoke Rugby Club

VIY worked with Basingstoke Rugby Club on two Sport England-funded projects in 2018-2019. Basingstoke RFC is a growing club with a strong presence in the local area. They have a rapidly growing female membership and needed to improve their clubhouse facilities to meet this demand. They also wanted to improve disabled access and security and create a new office space.

With these aims in mind, VIY trade skills mentors helped young people at the club to: create new female shower facilities; build a new disabled ramp and install handrails to improve accessibility to the clubhouse; brick up a window in the clubhouse shop which had previously been a security risk, build more outside seating for those less able to stand on match and community days; and refurbish and repurpose a disused storage space as a new office.

28 young people from the club were involved over both projects, 17 of whom gained an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds Accreditation in Carpentry Skills through their participation. The second project at the club was enabled by an all-female team of VIY mentors and young volunteers, affirming both the club’s and VIY’s commitment to female participation in volunteering, sport and construction.

The club was delighted with the outcomes from the two projects, with Chairwoman Michele Amos commenting: “The building works have really made a difference. The ramp and handrails have greatly improved access to the clubhouse for those with restricted mobility or balance. We’ve greatly improved gender access to the shower block and privacy in that area. And the new seating has improved facilities for those who cannot stand for long periods outside the club, especially on match days. We also really enjoyed working with VIY – the mentors were so lovely and they really brought out the best in our young volunteers. The VIY projects have set a great example, and all the young people involved have continued volunteering regularly at the club as a result.”

As a footnote, the improvements made to the club’s facilities through VIY have also helped the club to develop their future plans for growth, and the club has since received a £50,000 RFU grant to extend their facilities further.

Birchwood Care Home

Birchwood Care Home is a residential facility in Chesham, Bucks, and the project was recommended by the local Wickes Store Manager, Kelly Murch. The main aim of the project was to make the home’s garden more accessible to wheelchair users. This included creating/laying a new paved path around the perimeter of the building, plus the creation of new wheelchair accessible planters and raised flower beds to give all residents the chance to practice their gardening skills and help maintain the garden.

Kelly explains: “In 2017 I met an amazing lady in our store called Anita who volunteers at Birchwood Care Home. She was working tirelessly to improve standards for the residents and had a big project in mind. I made contact with VIY who were so supportive and blew me away by saying they would happily look at what they could do. Alan, a Lead Mentor with VIY, visited the home and put a plan of action in place, and then the project started.”

Over eight days, nine young people referred into the project by nearby Stoney Dean School (and deemed at risk of disengagement) contributed more than 270 volunteer hours on site, supported by VIY Lead Mentors, three members of staff from Wickes Chesham, and also residents at the home – and all of the young people ultimately achieved an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds carpentry accreditation as a result of their efforts.

Brune Park Community School

Catch22 Study Programme Portsmouth

Chalk Farm Hostel

Chamberlayne College

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