It’s said you should start at the beginning because apparently it is always the best place to start. Doing things conventionally isn’t our style here at Community Volunteer Wales so we’re reintroducing ourselves three years in to our charity journey. Conventional is not a word you could use to describe the last three years. We’ve lived through a pandemic, which many of you will agree was the strangest of times. Our founders, Dawn Derraven and Tara Holloway-Scott never expected this venture to last more than a couple of weeks. After all, that’s how long lockdown was meant to last. I guess we are starting in the beginning after all, here is the Community Volunteer Wales origin story… March 23rd 2020:
Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together. To halt the spread of this disease. To protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives. And I know that as they have in the past so many times. The people of this country will rise to that challenge. And we will come through it stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together. And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.
Boris Johnson
Just like that everything shut down. Shops closed. Entertainment venues – temporarily gone. Weddings postponed. GP appointments cancelled. Public transport suspended. It was time to just stay home, bake banana bread, join endless zoom calls and attempt to homeschool our children. Except, what if you were vulnerable or isolated? How would these people get what they needed? Entire support systems gone by the end of one short speech with very little time to plan anything. People in our community needed help, but with so much panic and worry who was going to help them?
Protecting the Forgotten
Having recently recovered from a broken ankle, Tara instantly recognised that there would be people who were completely isolated, frightened and would go hungry in this lockdown. Dawn had the same mindset. The two met on a Facebook group, and were drawn to each other as they were posting very similar messages on public community groups. Asking if anyone needed support with shopping, prescription collections or just needed someone to have a conversation with after a long day of being alone. The two likeminded women started talking and Risca CV19 Volunteers was born.
With a mission to ensure no-one felt lonely, hungry or frightened during the lockdown, Dawn and Tara started to accidentally recruit volunteers to their cause. It was never the intention to grow into a charity but so began an organic process. The volunteer group quickly grew in strength. Humble grass-root beginnings of handwritten notes posted through letter boxes asking if they knew of anyone in need of assistance began something of a local revolution in kindness.
Within a matter of weeks, over 100 volunteers were registered and they started delivering:
- 20 food shops were completed every week
- 10 prescription pick ups every week
- 170 kindness calls per week to those totally alone
- 3 emergency food parcels per week
Tara and Dawn were drawn into new areas of helping people and so with each new branch of CV19 Volunteers the charity began to form deep roots within Risca and the supporting valleys villages. As momentum grew, other local charities began reaching out for support. With so many people on furlough or having been made redundant and no way to get a new job, many local food banks were on the brink of shutting their doors and turning away those in desperate need. Another idea was born…
Tin on a Wall – A Lifeline to Emptying Food Banks
Traditional methods of collecting food for food banks were failing:
We believed that people in the community wanted to help and donate, but were fearful of breaking lockdown rules and potentially spreading the virus to vulnerable people. Our team brainstormed how they could help the borderline desperate situation and Tin on a Wall was born.
Tin on a Wall was a simple concept. Encouraging people to restock food banks and pantries without even leaving their street. After a massive coordination effort Tin on a Wall collected 2.5 tonnes of food within its first month. It quickly became a lifeline to food banks in the local area and supported numerous local charities. Tin on a Wall still takes place monthly in Risca, Crosskeys, Rogerstone, Wattsville, Brynawal and Cwmfelinfach.
Learn more about Tin on a Wall here.
During the launch of Tin on a Wall, Tara and Dawn made the decision to register CV19 Volunteers as a registered charity.
Adapting to the New Normal
Slowly, the UK tentatively tip-toed out of lockdown. With this, Risca CV19 Volunteers needed a new name. We emerged as Risca Community Volunteers, United Kingdom (RCVUK). With a new mission to help the community through a cost of living crisis and ensure no one was left behind as the UK recovered from a pandemic and several lockdowns.
RCV UK launched clubs and family activities that were affordable and fun. Activities and projects included:
- Free Breastfeeding and toddler feeding support groups for new parents,
- A low cost toddler fun session,
- Free activities through the summer, including messy play sessions,
- Coffee mornings for older people to connect with one another
- A Community Bike hub to help prevent bikes ending up in landfill
- An Emergency Food Bank
- Low cost Halloween and Christmas Parties
- Christmas Wish Appeals collecting toys and gifts to ensure no one went without through the Christmases we spent in Lockdown
RCV UK quickly were becoming an innovative and forward thinking charity, connected with other like minded groups in the community with the aim of helping those in need.
Strong Ambitions
By February 2022, RCV UK opened We Connect in Tredegar Street in Risca. A hybrid concept of a coffee shop by day and Community Pantry in the afternoons. Partnering with Fareshare and HUBBUB to launch the Pantry and a Community Fridge. The Pantry was a resounding success and provided an eco-shopping solution for those needing an extra hand up. The coffee shop helped connect people within the community and became a base for breakfast clubs, Meditation groups and youth clubs.
However, our founders had strong ambitions for the future of RCV UK and for what it could achieve within the community. Once again, it was felt we were outgrowing our name. We were evolving and our name needed to embody this. Community was at the heart of everything we did and we are proud to be a Welsh charity. So after much consultation we once again changed our name and Community Volunteer Wales (CVW) was born.
A Bright Future for Community Volunteers Wales
We’ve emerged with a new mission:
We want to create robust self-sufficient communities that have kindness and connection at the very heart.
Here we outline the four core values of our charity that define every project and activity that we do:
We’ve launched a new stand alone Community Pantry – The Pantri just up the road from our newly rebranded Snug Coffee Shop. We have so many big ideas coming forward this year, please continue to follow us to see what else we have in store for this community.
Thank you for reading the Community Volunteer Wales origin story. Here’s to our next chapter, who knows what is in store! Want to join the team or offer corporate sponsorship, get in touch here.
