Lockdown is apparently the new word of 2020 or is it?

Collins English Dictionary have recently announced one of their words of 2020 is Lockdown. For the Team at Hope, our word of 2020 is ‘resilience’.

Resilience – flexibility, elasticity, hardiness, toughness, strength

Yes, this past year Hope has had to adapt and quickly. Yes, we have had struggles, but we’ve been flexible and made new plans, changed the way we do things, we’ve been strong together and made strides forward. Above all, yes, we are still supporting people who desperately need our help and we are stronger than ever.

The demand on our services and support has more than quadrupled as COVID typhooned through the community destroying jobs, impacting health and altering family life, however, the resilience of our dedicated team, our wonderful volunteers and our Northampton family of supporters has driven us forward.

We are proud to say the Hope Team has met the 2020 challenges head on and more than ever turned to restrictions to innovation. We have opened new client services, assessed and transformed fundraising initiatives and continued to provide support to those living in the most extreme poverty.

As with many charities, the crisis has had a huge impact on income, with many events being cancelled and donations decreasing however, the Northampton community have done, what they always do for Hope and supported us in any way they can. They have given food (donating through our Street by Street campaign), time (through volunteering), clothing (that was sorted during the lockdown) and money (where and when you could).

The Team have altered and grown fundraising events, for example our popular annual Christmas Fair has ‘gone virtual’ in the form of an online Christmas Fair through Facebook. Our newly opened shop on Abington Street has some unique donations and is now fast growing its online presence and profit through EBay.

As we look to the festive season now more than ever, we need help to ensure that we continue to give Hope this Christmas, no one should go hungry and everyone should have access to opportunities and support. Hope has launched it’s Christmas Reverse Advent Calendar, 28 Days Of Hope online social media campaign, Gift Of Hope donation drive and Cards of Hope Christmas card campaign.

So, what will 2021 bring? The Charity will officially unveil our innovative Learning4Living programme. Hope Catering, another of our successful social enterprises, will continue to provide profit with purpose. It will once again gain momentum running the Hope Café alongside offering catering for local business meetings providing delicious food hand in hand with excellent training opportunities and employment.

This year hasn’t been easy, but the Northampton community has once again proved to Hope just how incredible you are. As a local charity that relies entirely on charitable funds to operate, we simply would not survive without your support.

So, from everyone who has received a food parcel, had food to eat, has got clean clothing, has been supported into housing or is being guided to a life off the streets; Thank You & Happy Christmas!