The newly formed Stone Community Hub launched a crowdfunding campaign on Sunday 1st March to raise the £20,000 it needs to deliver its vital services for the town.
Please support the campaign by spreading the word among friends and family and on social media, and by pledging money when the campaign goes live.
Stone Community Hub – based at the Frank Jordan Centre in Lichfield Street – has been formed by the merging of the Signpost Centre (which includes Stone Food Bank) and Stone Youth Cafe to provide advice and support to all sections of our community. Without all our help, from 1st April these essential services will no longer be available in Stone as their funding comes to an end.
Karen Wardell from the Hub said: “Most of us will, at some time, struggle for one reason or another, and Stone Community Hub is a lifeline for many. A safe place where they have been able to gain information, advice and guidance. For others it is simply a place to meet friends, chat and gain peer support in a warm and welcoming environment.”
Please do get behind Stone Community Hub and pledge your support if you’re able to as quickly as you can. As we discovered with our crowdfunding campaign last year, these things need a good start to really build momentum.
[button color=”red” size=”big” link=”https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/stonecommunityhub/” target=”blank” ]Click here to pledge your support[/button]
[button color=”green” size=”small” link=”https://stonecommunityhub.org/” ]Stone Community Hub website[/button]
[button color=”green” size=”small” link=”https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stone-Community-Hub/1546478958934414?fref=ts” ]Stone Community Hub Facebook page[/button]
[button color=”green” size=”small” link=”https://www.twitter.com/stonecommhub” ]Stone Community Hub on Twitter[/button]
Here’s a bit more information about what goes on at Stone Community Hub and why it’s so important to save these services…
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” width=”300″ ]Drop-in (former Signpost Centre): The drop-in centre is open four days a week and offers a warm welcome, warm drinks and toast free of charge. There is a free phone, access to the internet and people available to help with problems and signpost to relevant agencies. Help is also available for form filling and job searching. For those experiencing isolation it is a place to come to escape the four walls at home and chat to others, volunteers and staff. The police, fire and rescue service, Stafford and Rural Homes, CAP and Building Resilient Families are some of the services which currently use the centre as a meeting point to engage with people from the local community[/box]
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” width=”300″ ]Stone Food Bank: This is not found anywhere else in Stone. Without it people who need it would have to go to Hanley or Stafford. It offers a choice of food (which avoids waste) so people can take what they will use, and recipe cards to provide help and inspire confidence. There is support to help identify the root causes leading to people needing to access the food bank and then practical help where possible to eliminate the cause (ie help with budgeting) to avoid ongoing dependency in the future[/box]
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” width=”300″ ]Stone Youth Cafe: The Youth Café has remained open because of the presence and premises of Signpost Centre in Stone during the last two years. It has an “open to all” policy and provides a safe space for young people to hang out and have fun. The young people are encouraged to develop their own gifts and leadership and are encouraged to serve within the café and also at community events. Increasingly, other youth groups are accessing the space and using it at available times creating a centre-point for young people all across Stone, critical as traditional youth services are withdrawn[/box]
