Hand on Heart project
We wholeheartedly embrace helping those less fortunate than ourselves at NWC and we were delighted to hear from Sara Pradham (Year 8) about the Hand on Heart project that her family has been involved in. Here follows Sara’s story….
Hand on Heart written by Sara Pradhan
Our mission is to help homeless people by providing Winter Warmer Packs to the rough sleepers in London. On 9 February 2020, the Hand on Heart team delivered a homeless project with the following highlights:-
– 450 Winter Warmer Packs were assembled
– 15 winter essential items were included in each pack
– 6300 items were packed over two days
– Packs were distributed at three key London locations
– Our team included 90 Volunteers – four of whom actually slept rough for the night!
– We worked alongside three incredible Charities
– We raised over £10,000!
Over a period of four weeks, the Hand on Heart team worked tirelessly behind the scenes to source supplies, fundraise, work out logistics and perform media tasks.
We recruited 90 volunteers called ‘Winter Warmerteers’ and over one weekend we managed to assemble 450 winter packs for local people who are less fortunate than ourselves. Many of the parents in the team brought their children to help raise awareness of homelessness in this country.
The work was carried out over three shifts and each pack contained 15 winter essential items including hoodies, T-shirts, thermals, socks, underwear, woolly hats, hot water bottles, toiletries and snacks. On Sunday, we were delighted to be joined by Local MP for Ealing North, James Murray, who was keen to show his support!
We went on to deliver the packs to:
- 170 guests (rough sleepers) with the Children of Adam Charity in Lincoln’s Inn Field, Holborn
- 250 guests with the Nishkam SWAT charity in Charing Cross
- 30 guests with the Sufra charity in Wembley
Hand on Heart has no agenda but to serve people facing difficulties. The homeless projects and the winter packs are a message to rough sleepers that there are people who genuinely care.
During the four-week campaign, Hand on Heart managed to raise £10,000 for the project. Part of the donations received was for the sponsored Sleep Out Challenge at Trafalgar Square, in which four of our team took part alongside the charity Nishkam SWAT. The challenge was not to mirror or replicate what it is like to be homeless but instead to offer an insight into what it may be like for one night.
Hand on Heart is about changing lives in a positive manner. The guests were extremely grateful for their gifts and thankful for the generosity. With the weather causing havoc on the streets, the timing could not have been better to boost mood and moral. Not only were winter essentials handed out, there was also a message of kindness sent which provided warmth is other ways.
It is not too late to donate so click on the message below and read our story in full:
https://khojanews.org/keep-a-rough-sleeper-warm-this-winter/
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/handonheart
Thank you for your support from Afzal, Asifa, Sara and the Hand on Heart Team
