Aylesbury Youth Action spreads joy during pandemic with donation from developer
Whilst continuing to reach out to the Buckinghamshire community virtually during the pandemic, local charity Aylesbury Youth Action has received a £1,000 donation to help them spread joy during a time of need.
Leading developer Barratt and David Wilson Homes, which is behind the brand new community, Kingsbrook in Aylesbury, has donated funds to the charity to support its continued outreach work.
Aylesbury Youth Action, which covers Aylesbury and the surrounding Vale, allows young people aged 14 – 25 to develop their skills and volunteer to help others within the community. The team of youth and adult volunteers work hard to create resources, games and puzzles to provide entertainment for care homes, women’s refugees and children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
As the charity looks to purchase musical instruments to host interactive sessions over video conferencing platform Zoom, the donation will be used to cover the costs of these activities.
Melinda Orton, an Aylesbury Youth Action Manager, said: “We offer a unique approach to youth work which provides benefit to the community and the development of the young person who is volunteering.
“During the pandemic and especially during the stricter lockdown restrictions, we were very keen to move our support virtually, so we could still reach out to our friends in the community at such an uncertain time.
“This donation from Barratt and David Wilson Homes will help us to continue to reach out to people within Aylesbury as it’s important for us to come together now more than ever.
“Our volunteers have been keen to develop new ways to continue our services and the new musical instruments will be a great addition and a good way to help break down barriers and get everyone involved in what we do.”
Volunteers for Aylesbury Youth Action are normally school children from across the vale, but anyone can sign up to be a volunteer.
The helpers usually visit local community groups once a week to co-ordinate activities and programmes which provide educational and entertainment benefits.
The donation from the developer comes from its Community Fund initiative, which sees it donate up to £1,000 a month to local charities and community groups in need.
Simon Francis, Managing Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Thames, said: “We admire the work that Aylesbury Youth Action does within the community and were very keen to provide our support for them to carry out their services virtually.
“It is great to see that the Community Fund donation will be used to support residents in and close to our Kingsbrook development as this is a very important aspect for us when building a new homes development.”
Aylesbury Youth Action is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021. For more information on the charity, visit https://aylesburyyouthaction.co.uk/
For more information about any of Barratt and David Wilson Homes, visit the website at www.barratthomes.co.uk or www.dwh.co.uk.