Link Age Southwark used Patchwork to help raise funds so that they could move into a much needed new space. And their patchwork was a huge success! To celebrate they had a party to thank all of their many supporters. So our Rosie went along on a very wet June evening to have a look at their sparkly new HQ and meet the lovely people who helped make it happen!
Link Age Southwark is a small, but brilliant, local charity working in the London Borough of Southwark to reduce loneliness and isolation amongst older people. Over half of older people consider the television to be their main source of company, and the charity is trying to change this. They provide a volunteer befriending service, where a volunteer visits an older person for 1 hour a week for a cup of tea and a chat. Link Age Southwark support over 600 older people and run 25 social groups, ranging from computer skills to singing! They also organise a volunteer-run transport to help older people get out and about and offer DIY and gardening services.
What were you fundraising for?
We were raising funds to move offices. We’d been based in Dulwich Community Hospital for the last 18 years but unfortunately had to leave as the hospital was being redeveloped. For our new office, we wanted to create a really welcoming and fully accessible space for the older people who use our services and our fantastic volunteers. It was a fairly big renovation and we needed to raise extra funds to make this possible.
Why did using Patchwork to raise funds appeal to you?
We’ve always loved the idea of being able to offer our supporters the option to donate to fund a specific item but never had the resources to set it up on our own. Patchwork was great because it was incredibly easy to use and looked great visually. It was much better than anything we would have been able to achieve on our own and fitted really well with the project we were raising funds for.
How easy was it to set up your page?
Setting up our page was incredibly easy and the team at Patchwork were so helpful and supportive, answering any questions we had along the way. We are so grateful to them! When we launched our Patchwork we sent an email to all of our supporters with a direct link to the patchwork page which proved highly successful. We also shared our page on our website and across all of our social media channels including Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. We also included links in our regular volunteer communications.
What difference did it make to your fundraising?
Using the platform made a huge difference to our fundraising as it brought the whole project to life. It let our supporters feel a part of our office move in a way I don’t think we could have achieved on our own.
What was the best bit about using Patchwork?
It was great to be able to send personal messages to all of our supporters who had donated. We could say thank you for funding a desk or chair and let them know the impact that would have for our team and our services as a whole. We invited everyone who donated to the office opening party so they could see the finished project and it was a lovely way to thank them for their support.
How was it received by your supporters?
The response we received from our supporters was amazing. They loved the idea and were really keen to get involved. We received so many incredibly generous donations and it was lovely to read everyone’s messages of support, wishing us good luck for our move.
Would you recommend Patchwork to other small charities?
Absolutely! It’s such an engaging way to raise funds, really easy to use and doesn’t require a lot of technical know-how which is great, especially for small charities like us that don’t have big digital or IT teams.
And the end result? Are you pleased with your new offices?
We’re so delighted with our new home and hope to continue running our services for older people from here for many years to come. We are so grateful to Patchwork for all their support with this project, we couldn’t be happier!
Ah, and we are so happy to be have been able to support you – you are all brilliant! To find out more about Link Age Southwark and the incredible work they do click here.