Contributing Editor and reporter Paris Ali-Pilling picks out a top 10 of local organisations and individuals who are crowdfunding during lockdown. Additional reporting by Sarah Cheverton.
Voices from the NHS frontline, Lean on Me
Musical stars Phil Swan and Barry Upton joined with musical and production talent Mike Fowler and singer songwriter and guitarist Sian, to bring together a band – all recording in separate spaces – in lockdown. However, it wasn’t until the first voice recordings came in from NHS staff that things ‘became supercharged’.
Phil said, ‘It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill, it’s got bigger and bigger, faster and faster.
‘The song perfectly embodies what the NHS staff are doing. Our society has pain and we are leaning on them now more than ever. When we called, they were there, being our friend and helping us to carry on.
‘To every single person on the NHS frontline we say thank you, keep safe, we love you.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £550.71
Keep them safe (South Hampshire), led by The Makers Guild CIC
The global COVID-19 pandemic has left many of the Solent’s frontline staff and key workers without the required protection to safely carry out their daily routines of helping others in their communities and hospitals. The project started with a group of three local people from Portsmouth, but grew over eight days to become more than fifty, overseen by the community members of The Makers Guild CIC.
Joining up with a national team, 3Dcrowd.uk as a local hub, the group are now part of a 5000+ volunteers community making face shields for local areas across the country.
‘Demand…is soaring and it seems we are more in demand than before.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £7,043
India Quay feed Portsmouth, Covid-19 Care Package
India Quay restaurant, Port Solent, have been delivering free hot meals to the vulnerable people and NHS staff since March, and their crowdfunder aims to cover the costs. Deliveries take place three days a week and the team are aiming to deliver 1000 meals a day to those in need in the city.
Organiser Syed Ahmed said, ‘Your donations help us reach those who need it the most. If you know of anyone who could benefit from this, please do get in touch on 023 92 387559.’
Local resident, Rose Cazalet, told the India Quay team on Facebook, ‘I certainly hope people remember you guys when this is over and give your restaurant all the support you rightly deserve – we most certainly will – well done and thank you’.
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £1,100
#SaveOurVenues – Save The Wedgewood Rooms
The Wedgewood Rooms in one of Portsmouth’s best loved venues by residents and performer alike, and is one of hundreds of venues across the UK currently at risk of closure because of the effects of Covid-19.
‘During the early stages of the pandemic we took the difficult decision, for the first time in 27 years, to close our doors. We did this ahead of government intervention as we thought it was the most socially responsible thing to do. Something which we did for the sake of our staff and the public ahead of the lockdown instructions from the government.
‘Because of this we can no longer operate until that lockdown is lifted.’
The team have already hit their target of £12k to keep the Wedgewood Rooms open but have pledged to donate ‘everything above the amount we need…to the Music Venue Trust GMV Crisis Fund to protect other venues just like ours, right across the country.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £15,227
Groundlings Theatre Trust
Groundlings Theatre became a charitable trust in December 2019 and, like all theatres, closed due to the Covid-19 crisis on 20th March 2020. Without help, this historic and award-winning theatre may not be able to reopen.
‘Our local community is linked inextricably to hard work, creativity and grit. The council ward where Groundlings Theatre calls home is one of the top 10% most deprived in the UK and opportunities for our community continue to become fewer and fewer. We are well established in providing opportunities to our local community and would like the opportunity to develop this further.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £1,455
Help Lily & Lime through Covid-19
Having worked from Southsea and Central Library extensively and been sustained by their cafes, the S&C team is a huge fan of Lily & Lime LD CIC, an amazing social enterprise dedicated to enabling, supporting and training young people and adults with additional needs and/or a learning disability into sustainable pathways into employment.
‘We do our work in catering and hospitality through our Community cafes and our Training Academy, but all our venues have been closed due to Covid 19, so our trading income has ceased. As a team, we knew that all our Trainees would urgently need our continued help through this crisis, so we quickly adapted our work and went virtual, to keep our provision and support to this vulnerable group ongoing.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £361
Pamodzi Creatives, Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Project
Pamodzi Creatives are the team behind the Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Awards, celebrating women & girls in the local area. They also support the work of PARCS [Portsmouth Abuse & Rape Counselling Service] by donating all profits from their annual award ceremony to the charity.
This appeal is to support the development of an Apprenticeship scheme for a student at Portsmouth College and to support the next Inspirational Women of Portsmouth project.
Organiser Roni Edwards said, ‘Through your support, this young person will also have the opportunity to gain experience working on the project as well as gaining work place experience in PARCS and other organisations within the city. It will also help us create the podcasts and campaigns to celebrate our nominees and produce other projects linked to the theme of Inspirational Women of Portsmouth.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £345
Help charity Provide A Meal to feed vulnerable people
PROVIDE A MEAL is a Portsmouth based charity that uses a web and mobile application to feed people in need through community donation, without giving out cash. Before the pandemic the app enabled the charity to serve food to vulenrable people across Portsmouth, including refugees, low income families and the homeless.
‘Preventing these vulnerable people from [experiencing] hunger is one of the things we can do to help at this time. We are dropping off emergency food boxed for them and with your help we can do a lot more.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £2,464
Madani Academy School Portsmouth – Urgent Appeal
The Madani Academy Portsmouth is the first independent Islamic faith school in in the city and serves pupils aged 4 to 16 years old. The school has been awarded an overall Good rating by OFSTED in the most recent two inspections, with some areas achieving Outstanding.
‘Our ambition remains to reach an overall Outstanding rating.
‘In these unprecedented times, we find ourselves in desperate need of your support & investment to enable us to continue to serve the community of Portsmouth and the surrounding areas with a unique educational facility here in the city. There is a demand for us to provide secondary education here at the school and we were close to completion. We have a total of £220,000 to pay to secure this unique building and we urgently need to raise £40,000 to ensure we can continue to run and maintain the school.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £14,100
Team Scrubbers sewing scrubs for NHS workers in Portsmouth and Southampton
JCI Portsmouth and JCI Southampton have teamed up to ‘Team Scrubbers’, sewing scrubs for NHS local NHS workers. The group are part of the nationwide movement For the Love of Scrubs, which was formed after identifying a shortage in supply for scrubs to frontline NHS staff during the pandemic.
Team Scrubbers is made up of professional and amateur sewers ‘with a keen interest in helping our local communities in this difficult time of national need for well-made scrubs. They have an army of sewers working from homes around the local area of Portsmouth and Southampton and are looking for support in raising funds to buy material, thread, tape and paper to trace patterns onto.’
Donate Here
Total reached as of 20th May 2020: £30
