Apparently Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I suspect it may have been if Walthamstow had been in charge. The second meeting for the #7DaysForStow micro volunteering project took place last night, and it was pretty amazing to see how much has happened in the few weeks the project has been running. The meeting took place at the Walthamstow School for girls on Church Hill. On the balcony above the door to the main hall is written “Neglect not the gift that is in thee” This quote seems to fit the project perfectly. By using the skills that you already have, what can you do to improve things locally, and the great news is, people have already made a fantastic start.
There were various tables around the room, one for each of the projects that has been created since the first meeting in January. I was at the helm of the night shelter table. Around me were projects such as the E17 Community Kitchen, Eat Or Heat foodbank, befriending scheme and the sharkstoppers. Don’t worry the river Lea hasn’t been invaded by jaws, these guys are after the legal loan sharks not the fish. Eight projects are already up and running and each group told us what they had been achieved so far, what was still proving a challenge and what was next for their project. The groups then had time to plan out their next action points. For example my group are trying to find a building that could house the night shelter on Wednesday nights, the only night of the week that doesn’t have a shelter running. Other groups are looking for market stalls, cake bakers, T-Shirt printers, food distribution centres and of course people to help.
There is still much to do, but the good news is there is still most of the year to do it. If you want to get involved there are no requirements, other than liking tea and biscuits that is. 7DaysForStow is a really simple idea, you don’t need to climb a mountain, run a marathon or give hundreds of hours of your time. You could simply share the details of a reasonably priced leaflet printer with a project and that might make all the difference to them. Think of it this way, in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Eastenders, you could make a difference to the life of a real Eastender.
More information can be found here and on the IVO page. lookout for the project on Facebook or follow @7Days4Stow on twitter. If you don’t see a project listed that you would like to be involved in, contact 7 days on 7days4stow@googlegroups.com and the communications team will find out if anyone else is interested in the same thing.
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