With the support of Southlands Venture, students from the University of Roehampton provided Christmas Hampers to those who may have otherwise gone without this year.
Gladys Iyamore, a Southlands College student who studies Business Management, proposed her community Christmas Hamper project in order to provide for those in the area who don’t have much for Christmas. Gladys and a number of friends partnered with Ole’s Soup Kitchen in Hackney to distribute Christmas Hampers which were funded by Southlands Venture.
Gladys’ experience at school alongside her Christian faith inspired her to make the proposal to Southlands Venture. As she says,
“What initially gave me idea stemmed from the Christmas Hampers I used to do in my Secondary School. Every year from October we’d collect non-perishable food to create hampers in December which we’d take ourselves to local care homes.
“I realised once I got to university, those things were not offered so I took it upon myself to request for the funds to make this possible. Because of my Christian values, I felt strongly about the project idea as it is always more of a blessing to give rather than to receive.”
Gladys used her established link with Ole’s Soup Kitchen – a service for homeless, vulnerable people, and people needing support and advice – to identify recipients of her Christmas Hampers, of which there were ten in total. She comments,
“Those who benefitted the most were the less fortunate. I delivered them to a soup kitchen [and] I was familiar with some of the attendees, because I regularly volunteer there. It was absolutely amazing to see them have a hot meal and take a few items home”
Southlands Venture is a project funded by Southlands Methodist Trust; it facilitates and supports student-led social projects across the university and local community.