Latest News
Please check back here every so often for our latest news and updates on what’s happening at Karis Neighbour Scheme. If you’d like to sign up for our e-newsletter you can click here. This is an electronic newsletter which comes out four times a year and updates on all our projects and news.
30/5/23
We are advertising two new posts – Men’s Befriending Project Worker and Listening and Guidance Social Prescriber – details can be found on our ‘Vacancies’ page. Please share with your networks or pass on to anyone suitable that you know! We are grateful to The Hinchley Trust and Edgbaston NNS for their support for these posts.
15/5/23
We are extraordinarily grateful to have received support from the Hinchley Trust for our Listening and Guidance service, which offers mental health support to patients at seven local general practices. This work is more in need than ever as we deal with the after effects of the pandemic, as well as the day to day challenges that people are experiencing with living costs. Thank you.
6/5/23
We have celebrated the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III with parties for all our groups – photos will follow in our newsletter! If you’d like to subscribe please contact us at admin@karisneighbourscheme.org
4/5/23
We were delighted to host a visit from representatives of the Hortons Social Purpose Committee earlier in the year, who were interested in learning more about our Children and Families Work. This resulted in an application for funds which was successful and we are delighted to have been awarded this valuable support. Thank you.
1/4/23
Edgbaston Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) has granted us support for our new Men’s Befriending Project – thank you! This project will offer tailored befriending to isolated men over the age of 50 in the local area. We will advertising in due course for a project lead for this work – watch this space!
21/3/23
Thank you to Warburtons Families Matter scheme who have agreed to provide £400 funding for our Baby Bank work this year!
5/3/23
Late last year we were successful in being put through to the Tescos Community Grants scheme, with votes from three branches being cast for our project as well as others. We are very pleased that we have been awarded £500 from this scheme and thank all of you who voted for us with your green tokens!
20/2/23
Our Spring newsletter is out now – see here. Read about our Christmas activities, and find project updates about all our work, as well as new staffing news!
10/1/23
We welcomed our new Finance and Operations Officer, Victoria Yates, who starts with us this month and will help to refine and maintain our finance processes, a very valuable and supportive role – we are very pleased to have her with us!
31/12/22
Our work is supported by many generous charities and individuals, for which we are grateful. These include: the Arnold Clark Community Fund, Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Charity, the Alan Edward Higgs Trust, the GJW Turner Trust, South Birmingham Friends Institute, the CB and HH Taylor Trust, the Harry Payne Fund, George Henry Collins Trust, AFIA, the Grimmitt Trust, George Fentham Trust, Richardson Bros, LoveBrum, Tescos Community Grants, the W A Cadbury Trust, the Saintbury Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and Henry James Sayer Trust. We also thank all those individuals who send cash donations or help support the Baby Bank through donations of equipment and baby goods.
Our first Crowdfunder!
We launched our first Crowdfunder to help support Karis Baby Bank – if you’d like to support us in this way please have a look at our appeal here, where you can see our lovely Children and Families Worker talking about our work, and how you can help.
28/10/22
We have been lucky enough to be selected as a featured project by LoveBrum whereby readers vote for one of three projects they wish to support. We are delighted to say we won first prize of £2000, which goes towards supporting our Children and Families Work!
Newsletter – October 2021
In this issue we focus on our supporters – who they are, and why they support us (in their words!) – funders, individuals, charities and our all important volunteers. Read more here.
20/8/22
This summer we have welcomed colleagues from Zurich Municipal Trust (Birmingham branch) who have volunteered with us and provided some resources for clients of Baby Bank. The volunteers came into the office to learn about the work of our baby bank, and then helped to organise donations by sorting and bundling clothes for clients. They also very kindly provided £500 worth of toiletries, pyjamas and slippers for expectant mums in lovely gift bags – these will be given out through the remainder of the year.
15/7/22
Dr Robert Chesner at Karis Medical Centre took part in a half Ironman in Wales on 18 June, raising funds for Amnesty International and Karis Neighbour Scheme in memory of his grandma Betty, and raised over £1300 for Karis. We are very grateful and Rob is still recovering!
Many of you will know that KNS was born from an idea by one of the GPs at Karis Medical Centre, so we were delighted to be one of the beneficiaries of Rob’s great efforts! Rob says “Grandma Betty was kind, selfless and an advocate for human rights, equality and opportunity for all. I know she will be smiling at the thought of much needed money and resources being provided for both KNS and her beloved Amnesty.”
Newsletter – June 2021
Catch up with the celebratory event we held for our volunteers on a lovely summer’s day in June, and the rest of Karis news here!
08/04/22
Find our latest newsletter here to catch up on how we’ve been re-starting lots of our activities and all the latest news from KNS.
05/01/22
A big welcome to some of our new staff who have started in the past few months, Katharine Harris joins us as our Karis BeFriends Advice worker, Hannah Eno has taken on our Fundraising role and Chris Shurrock has joined us most recently as our Finance & Operations Co-ordinator.
27/08/21
We’re pleased to announce Harry Naylor has taken on the post of CEO, moving from his Operations & Finance Manager role. We are now recruiting for a Finance & Community Co-ordinator, closing date for applications 17th September. More details about the post can be found here. If you or anyone you know would be interested please do contact admin@karisneighbourscheme.org for more details.
17/06/21
Farewell and a huge thank you to Maddy Bunker as she comes to the end of her time here at Karis as CEO. Our thanks in particular for leading us through what has been a challenging year and a half with COVID-19.
Newsletter – May 2021
You can find our latest newsletter – including details of recruitment for our CEO post and a role with the Kickstart scheme for 16-25 year olds, as well as information about our Listening & Guidance service, including details of our recruiting a new Chaplain for Wellbeing here. If you’d be interested in finding out more about the post please email Michaela at admin@karisneighbourscheme.org.
Newsletter – October 2020
See our previous newsletter here and read about how we’re continuing to adapt our work to the challenges presented by COVID-19
Newsletter – September 2020
See our previous newsletter here and read about how we’re continuing to adapt our work to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
24/04/20
Another update on our work during the current COVID-19 outbreak can be found here.
Newsletter – March 2020
Please see our previous newsletter here for details of what we’re doing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are still here and looking to support the most vulnerable in our community during this time.