PiP Review, 2023: The Highs and Lows of Last Year
As 2023 comes to an end we reflect on the highs and lows. We kicked off the year with being awarded a grant from Our Voice, Our Choice, Our City. The grant was going to enable us to continue our pioneering River Usk clean up project. Sadly this was brought to a grinding holt in September after ongoing discussions with Newport City Council.
These differences are still ongoing and we still haven’t received a reply from the leader of NCC, although we have been working with staff and hope to have the problems resolved in the New Year. We did however manage to carry out 18 community litter picks.
Our volunteers are eager to complete their working around water training very soon, especially after completing sharps and first aid training this year. Our calendar of events will hopefully be available soon.
Pride In Pill – Help The Homeless
Our homeless project is in it’s fifth year. The project continues to grow and our meal voucher scheme is in huge demand. This year has seen us hand out 3,185 meal tickets along with 350 tickets for hair cuts. Sadly, the number of homeless and vulnerable we feed has more than doubled. In 2023 we have handed out 5,129 food bags and continue to hand out end of day food every evening.
This issue is multi-dimensional. Poverty isn’t just about lack of money, it impacts on health, education and damages communities too. Pride In Pill will continue to work closely with NCC Rough Sleeper Co-Ordinator and have been overwhelmed with the support from local businesses and the community in general, with clothing donations and bedding. This can be very overwhelming at times. Having difficult conversations with those in desperate need of our help and understanding. It’s not something you can just walk away from. We are so thankful for the grants received this year which have allowed us to update some of our original equipment and continue our projects.
The Best of 2023
In March we marshalled the St David’s Hospice half marathon and April we became Extra Milers for the ABP Newport Marathon, volunteering in the bag storage area. A wonderful community event which was full of fun. We have been so lucky to receive nomination and awards for the following this year- Coronation Champion-Royal Voluntary Service Award for the Kings Coronation, this saw volunteers invited to Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert. Volunteers also met with King Charles, Queen Camilla and First Minister Mark Drakeford at Theatr Brycheiniog. We were awarded as highly commended by GAVO for Inspirational Award and Community Hero at the Pride of Gwent Awards, along with being recognised by the Statue of Lady Rhondda Campaign Group. Although we do not expect Awards or honours, we do appreciate our community taking precious time to nominate us.
We are always looking to grow PIP and this year has seen us run two new events. We spent two weekends raising awareness and funds with the help of Curry’s, Maesglas. We also ran our very first ever pop up donation shop in a collaboration with the Kingsway Centre. We were joined by Wellies and the inspirational Emma Webb and Miles #DoItForBrodie. This event was a huge success and we will continue to grow these projects and more in 2024, working alongside like-minded groups.
In December we continued with our community coach trips, taking over 50 people to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park in London. These trips are not for profit.
Christmas Toy Appeal
Our final project of the year was our hugely successful Christmas Toy Appeal, seeing us collect 2,924 brand new toys. These were delivered to children in hospitals across South East Wales, Weston-super-Mare and Bristol. Of course none of this would be possible without all the local businesses and community who continue to support us.
2024 was a monumental year for PiP which will see us celebrating our 10th Birthday. Our drive and determination over 10 years has never wavered. At times we have doubted our sanity 😁 but our commitment to our community and PiP goes from strength to strength. It takes many hands to make light work and our team of volunteers are incredible. We don’t have a magic wand to make all our city’s problems go away, but our volunteers have kind hearts which give people hope, courage and the strength to stay positive in hard times. Hopefully leading to brighter futures. We really do appreciate every ounce of help from our volunteers and supporters. Extra special thanks go to all the incredible businesses who so generously support us. Remember Kindness is Contagious 💚 Happy 2024 💚
Paul Murphy – Chairman
Tracy Jones – Trustee
