Volunteer Newsletter - July 2004

Welcome to Fourth Helping Hands Newsletter!

of the superb work done quietly and un-boastfully to help those in need. Tell me what greater satisfaction

can one human being get than to know that in some way you have made someone else's life just that

little more comfortable. I became a member of Helping Hands a few years ago and I like to think that I

also in some way have made a contribution to the welfare of the people that I see. So my friends what about you?

I am sure that some time or other you must have thought "how can I help" well now you know the answer,

don't leave it to others. We would be delighted for you to join hands with us at Helping Hands

Harold Arghebant

On the plus side, since the beginning of the year Helping Hands' Sunday teas have been held every month

and are as popular as ever, attracting an average of 40 guests each month.

Furthermore, Helping Hands has continued to be able to offer assistance to its regular clients.

So what's the downside? Helping Hands has become a victim of its own success. Over the past four years

the Helping Hands' client base has increased at an astonishing rate but the number of

volunteers, whilst increasing, has not been able to keep up with the huge demand for help.

Accordingly, for the time being, Helping Hands has had to stem its growth by limiting the assistance

that it provides to those existing clients, rather than new ones.

This is not what we want to happen. Helping Hands wants to be able to operate in such a way that

it can offer help to anyone within the Community who needs it, and for that reason we are actively working

towards developing a scheme that we call

The Stepping Stones to Helping Hands Success

the aims of which are as follows:

To streamline the process of finding volunteers once a request for help is received.

We propose to achieve this by encouraging each volunteer to tell their "link person" the days and times that they are most likely to be available so that a timetable can be compiled in order

to pinpoint a volunteer who is likely to be on hand as soon as a call for assistance is received.

To facilitate better communication between Helping Hands and the local Synagogues and other communal Organisations.

To achieve this Synagogues and other Bodies will be encouraged to complete a form and send it to Helping Hands

in respect of any member of theirs whom they consider needs the type of assistance that Helping Hands can offer.

To make the Helping Hands' service available to as many clients as possible, without over-burdening a

few key members who currently have to deal with matching client and volunteer every time a request for help is received.

In order to achieve this process Helping Hands would hope to be able to find a part-time Administrator to help deal

with the day to day administration. Perhaps this person could even be you, or someone you know!

We would therefore urge anyone with a little time on his or her hands to come forward as a volunteer

and help us to achieve our aim of helping those in our community in the way that we ourselves would hope to be

helped in the future.

Meanwhile the Helping Hands' Executive would like to wish a very Happy New Year to all readers, clients, volunteers and supporters.

A letter to Helping Hands

Dear Liz
This is from my heart.
Thank you very much for your help and support while I've been ill.

It meant a lot to me for your being there.

I would like to wish you a great success with Yom Ha'atzmaut on the 26th April.
Best Regards
Henrietta Abbey

Helping Hands

I would like to reassure the community that Helping Hands is OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

At the present time we are undergoing a restructuring, which we hope will result in an integrated Jewish welfare organisation in Brighton & Hove. Whilst this restructuring is taking shape, we are unfortunately having to offer a more limited service than previously but we believe that ultimately the Jewish community will benefit enormously.

What we envisage for Brighton & Hove has been summed up with great clarity by Helping Hands' Co-ordinator, Sarah Wilks, and we print below an article that she wrote recently -

You may have attended the recent Yom Ha'Atzmaut celebration at the Hove Town Hall - the major communal event of the Brighton & Hove Jewish community.

On looking around you would have noticed how all the various segments of our community gathered under the same roof and how, by their all contributing to this Event, they were able to turn it into a wonderful evening.
With this attitude in mind, I ask you to imagine the welfare groups of the City and the Synagogue welfare representatives all joining forces and becoming a strong and positive Organisation by combining their resources and people-power.

This would create a united Brighton & Hove "Community Cares" - an umbrella welfare Organisation for all, which is something this City needs and deserves.
As Co-ordinator of Helping Hands, I, together with the Helping Hands' Executive, am willing to be part of such a Body. I am very proud of all our wonderful volunteers and the amazing work that they do BUT I KNOW THAT WE ARE ABLE TO DO SO MUCH MORE!
So -

Lift a FINGER, Lend a HAND, Don't PALM me off but put your HANDS up and be counted and together let's generate some community spirit.