Thank you!

The 2020 Big Give Christmas Challenge ended on Tuesday 8th December and we have raised an amazing £44,015 from our online campaign in just one week! This total includes the match funding from our Shrewsbury House Pledgers and the Four Acre Trust, along with any gift aid that can be claimed from HMRC on your donations.

Thank you to all who contributed. This means so much to us as we can get on with Refreshing Shrewsbury House, continuing to make it a useable space during the current coronavirus pandemic and ensuring it is futureproofed for the generations of new users to come.

Your generosity is overwhelming. THANK YOU everyone for continuing to support our work at The Shewsy.

The Big Give 2020 – we need YOU!

We are busy stacking up this year’s effort in the Big Give, which every year engages charitable giving trusts and foundations who will MATCH pledged funds before the individual charity seeks donations in a single week in December each year.

Our campaign is entitled Refreshing Shrewsbury House.

“Shrewsbury House is undergoing a much needed refurbishment but beyond basic replacement and maintenance, we need to respond to the needs of our children partially highlighted by the Covid pandemic. There are over 50 children per after school club session where we provide a warm and welcoming environment, but this is not enough. We need to provide sensory space, a computer room and disabled access with specialist staff to deliver life coping skills for all our children and teenagers.”

The Big Give  – So Far So Good –   Now we need ALL of you

Thanks to our wonderful team of Pledgers we have secured our initial target of £10,000. At that point it became a question of would a charitable trust match it….. and the marvellous Four Acre trust have done just that. They too will give the club £10,000, with one proviso…. We must now MATCH the promised funds by raising our own £20,000 in just ONE week. That’s the deal. That week starts at midday on Monday 1st December and lasts until 12.00 noon on 8th December. Please press the Donate button and help now.

https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001exLOTAA2

We need a huge number of us to show our support, give what we can and also spread the word and ask others to do the same. We have already made great progress in refurbishing our beloved building and it’s in great shape, but we do need to do more to equip us for the coming decades. In addition to that, your generosity will keep our superb part time staff team going.

Thank you. Thank you for your past support. Thank you again for supporting us now.

 

We’re open again!

We’re pleased to report that we are open again and are delighted members and staff are back in enjoying the Shewsy. We have good safety measures in place and are running a limited number of places in bubbles that need to be booked in advance.  You can read a fuller report from John Dumbell here. We are very pleased that we have been able to furlough most of our staff and no – one has lost their job due to the pandemic. Thank you for your support and encouragement in this most difficult period.

 

Our e mail system and website page has been secured and we would be grateful if you could revert to contacting Team Leader, John Dumbell and Administrator, Carol Bennett on their original e mail addresses

John Dumbell   john.dumbell@shrewsburyhouse.org.uk             Carol Bennett                carol.bennett@shrewsburyhouse.org.uk

 

Lockdown has at least enabled us to crack on with the refurbishment of the building. We will shortly provide a full report of what we have achieved to date and what is still left to do. We will need to raise more funds to enable further progress, but we are hopeful we may manage that. Some of you have been instrumental in providing the funds to help us do what we have, so thank you very much indeed.

Covid-19 update

In line with youth clubs and organisations across the country, we are very sad to announce that The Shewsy closed its doors from Friday 20th March when schools were closed and the restrictions on social gatherings were announced in response to the ongoing Covid 19 crisis.

For all our junior and senior club members, and indeed everyone in our community in Everton, we are still here for you so please stay in touch on our social media channels….

www.twitter.com/TheShewsy                                www.facebook.com/shewsyhouse                         www.Instagram.com/theshewsy/

Keep safe.

Shewsy memories in song

Looking back at the year

Chair of Management Committee, John Hutchison writes:

As we look back over the last year, I want to start by thanking you. Your kindness and support has made such a difference to us.

  • For part of the last year, much of the club building has been surrounded by scaffolding as we progressed our urgent roof works. It was a gift; a gift from an old club member who looks back on his time in the club with gratitude.
  • Our first venture into the recent Big Give Christmas appeal produced a multitude of gifts, big and small in the form of donations and pledged financial support.
  • Several retail giants have recently produced a variety of goods gifted to the club’s programme and refurbishment of our building.
  • Some of you uphold us in your thoughts and prayers.
  • We have a team of volunteers who offer their time freely in club, night in night out.
  • Many of you have standing orders with the club that make up the bedrock of our donated income.
  • And in days when it is rare to find any strength in the management of youth clubs, our Board of Management can and does draw on the skills and work from a team of fifteen.

To quote from a recent letter from our Mayor in Liverpool

Shrewsbury House has been at the very heart of the Everton community for generations; changing people’s lives, inspiring our children and young people and giving them a place to feel supported and safe. Celebrating 116 years is testament to your outstanding work and I hope you all know how grateful I am, as is the whole City Council, for all you do. I know this is a challenging time and I want to thank you for all you are doing in difficult circumstances.

 

The Shewsy club is a special place and widely acknowledged as such.  Please find out about our activities this year in our latest Annual Report.