Strawberry Star Group celebrated the Newham Giving Day in association with East End Community Foundation at its Hoola office in London on 16th October 2019 to raise funds to support young people.

Newham Giving is an innovative local giving programme that supports community projects to provide a lifeline to families struggling to provide positive activities for children and young people during the school holidays. Jane Lofthouse, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education, London Borough of Newham, was the guest on the occasion.

Vinod Tailor, Non-Executive Director, Strawberry Star Group, said, “Our organisation has associated with the East End Community Foundation for various initiatives. We are proud to host Newham Giving Day for the third year in a row. It is great to be able to raise money for Newham Giving as it provides vital support for young people in the school holidays. We were delighted Jane Lofthouse, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education, London Borough of Newham could join us and choose the winner of our bake-off competition.” 

In Newham 30% of people are aged 20 and under, with around 2 in every 5 defined as living in poverty.  

Newham Giving School holiday projects aim to: 

• Positively impact on the development of children and young people aged 7-18 
• Increase motivation and engagement with education and learning
• Reduce anti-social behaviour and improve community cohesion
• Avoid young people being at risk of learning loss through the school holiday period

Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and Newham Giving Ambassador said, 

“Newham Giving supports vital school holiday youth projects.  It is great to see so many young people positively engaged throughout the school holiday, thanks to the Newham Giving support.  Through these holiday projects, children and young people are developing, some becoming impressive youth leaders in their own right.” 

East End Community Foundation found out that many children and young people were attending the school holiday activities without a packed lunch therefore, this year it organised a “Holiday Hunger Pilot” in partnership with ASDA Foundation. This partnership enabled Newham Giving to be able to fund the provision of free meals for 446 children and 7,444 meals were served through-out the summer holiday.