A Summer of Oasis Garden Parties
People across the UK are signing up to host an Oasis Garden Party to raise money to help people facing homelessness. The simple fundraiser is a perfect opportunity to safely see friends and family while also raising money for a good cause.
Cynthia Kesington, former resident at The Foyer, Oasis Community Housing’s residential support project, which ran for 21 years in Croydon, is hosting a Garden Party in Crystal Palace next month. She was inspired by a desire to give back and help others facing homelessness.
Cynthia said: “Fortunately for me, there are organisations out there like Oasis Community Housing that quite literally helped me get my life back on track. They provided me with a place to call home, the first and most important step towards helping me rediscover who I was and figure out who I wanted to be.
“I can’t stress the importance of their work enough. They’re all about prevention and intervention. Tackling the issue of homelessness head on to provide hope of a future that seems so hard to imagine when you don’t even have a roof over your head.”
Other Garden Parties are already being planned across the North East of England, using the charity’s downloadable ‘party packs’ of garden games, quizzes and recipes – including one from our Patron, former Celebrity Masterchef contestant Rev Kate Bottley.
support FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
The overall event is being supported by Wesleyan Assurance Society has been helping people secure their financial futures for 180 years and, like Cynthia, want to give something back to help people facing homelessness.
Established during the Industrial Revolution, the Society’s original purpose was to help Birmingham’s factory workers save so that they had money for sickness and funeral expenses. Over the years they’ve stood strong in an ever changing and often challenging world.
Today they specialise in creating brighter financial futures for the professions we all trust. This includes hospital doctors, GPs, dentists and teachers. The Society aspires to build lifelong relationships with their customers by providing a range of personal and commercial financial services from across the Wesleyan Group.
“We are delighted to be able to support this event. Wesleyan is passionate about supporting local communities and helping to address homelessness. It’s so vital the services provided by Oasis Community Housing are well supported, especially as we start to recover from the pandemic. We would like to encourage everyone to get involved and do what they can to help to make a real impact.”
Hazel Ditchburn, Oasis Community Housing’s Corporate Relationships Manager, has been working behind the scenes to connect business with worthy causes:
“We’re so pleased companies like Wesleyan are active in helping people facing homelessness. Supporting events like the Oasis Garden Party is a powerful way to make a real difference to the people in our communities.
“The last 18 months have exacerbated problems like job loss, digital exclusion and domestic abuse. Our bi-monthly Midday Oasis networking events provide an opportunity for businesses to come together to tackle some of these issues and support our mission to bring hope to people facing homelessness.”
Get involved
To find out more about how you can host an Oasis Garden Party this summer and support the charity’s local homelessness projects, please visit our events page.