Lifespace in Stratford has helped many people over the years, and the charity has big plans for its 21st birthday

A STRATFORD charity is making a ‘call to arms’ ahead of its 21st birthday later this year.

Lifespace estimates to have helped thousands of people over the years, and the organisation’s chief executive officer Lisa Carroll wants to hear from as many of you as possible.

Plans are in motion for a sponsored walk taking place through Stratford to mark 21 years of Lifespace helping people who need it most. Final details will be announced at a later date by the charity, but three walks of various lengths are hoped to take place on 29th June and all finish at the Stratford Youth Collective on Birmingham Road.

Lisa told the Herald how the charity has been “embedded” in Stratford for its entire existence and is keen for the special celebration to feel like a “coming of age” for the charity.

“We constantly hear from young people, from parents, from teachers about the impact that Lifespace has made,” she said. “It’s not uncommon for us to stand up in a meeting and chat about our work and for somebody to stand up and say, ‘Lifespace is amazing, they really helped my daughter get through her exams’

“It’s those people we would really love to hear from. They’ve told us organically about the impact that we’ve made, but what I’d love is for them to pop us an email or give us a call and say, ‘Actually, this is what I’ve been involved in, or this is how Lifespace helped me 10 years ago and now look at me.’

“What I really love is a call to arms, as well as people interested in celebrating our 21st birthday there’s people that might want to put something back now that perhaps we supported them or their child or a family friend and think, ‘Actually, they’d love to get involved and become a volunteer and join our team’. That would be amazing.”

The diverse team at Lifespace numbers around 30, including both paid and voluntary members. It includes youth workers and counsellors who help a significant number of young people on a regular basis.

Lisa said: “Last year, we supported more than 650 young people one-to-one and another roughly 400 in group work. We know that if you calculate that, even though we’ve obviously been on a growth trajectory, if we factor all of those figures
into the last 21 years, we will have helped many, many thousands of young people. And they owe us nothing.

“They don’t need to do anything else in order to go off, live their lives and be happy. But if even just a small proportion want to get in touch and say, actually, this is what it did for me.”

You can find contact details for Lifespace – and find out more about its services – at www.lifespace.org.uk.

For details about the sponsored walk, click here