The Rugby Portobello Trust have been in need of volunteers to prepare clothes and other donations which were given for distribution to those who have been displaced from their homes due to the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June.
Thanks to Live Nation’s Volunteer Day Initiative, which allows employees to use five days of paid volunteer time off to serve the community at a charity of their choice, Annie, Kay, Joel, Sian and Amrit headed to a warehouse just around the corner from Latimer Road to lend their helping hands.
The charity had recently been donated some space near the tower in which they could house donations for a short period of time. They required boxes to be unpacked and clothes to be sorted and put on display, so that it would be as easy as possible for people to come in and choose the clothes, toys and household items that they need at this point in time.
Unfortunately, many of the families are still living in hotel rooms, so they have been unable to take many of the donations required in bulk, hence there are still plenty of items being held in storage.
The team went to work for four hours unpacking, hanging, moving and displaying the items that many generous people had donated – with quite a lot of toys and children’s clothes being brand new! The warehouse is going to open this week for those who are in need, however the charity has to be out of there by the end of the week, so they’ll require more volunteers on Thursday and Friday to pack up anything that has not been taken and move it to another home (which is yet to be found).
If you’re interested in helping out 3 – 4 August or getting involved in the future, please contact Annie Callaghan at [email protected].
For more information about The Rugby Portobello Trust, which is dedicated to enriching lives and expanding horizons for local young people, check out their website at rugbyportobello.org.uk.
