Marsh Community Centre Charity work for Careers

In our Careers lesson this half term we have been looking at what ‘charity’ is and what it means to be a volunteer. Throughout our initial exploration of this topic, we looked into what foodbanks are used for and why are they important. We discussed and decided as a class how they could make a difference and contribute to the community. They chose to collect donations to send locally. The pupils posters to advertise a donation food drive. Once they completed the food drive event the class took what food they collected and dropped it at the local food bank at The Marsh Community Centre, Lancaster.

The pupils all helped carry the bags in. Then listened carefully to Deborah, the lady who runs the food bank, as she told them about the food bank, where who they help, how the donations are sorted through and how people can claim their donation packages. They were able to repeat back information they were told, and also took it in turns to ask questions. They learnt this specific foodbank helps 64 families. The lady also told the pupils about other initiatives the community centres runs, to help the local people. They run boxing, for young people, as well as youth groups which caters for a mixture of age groups. The pupil’s discussed with the lady why some people need to use food banks, and how they can help people. They found out that Deborah gets paid from the National Lottery company, however most staff volunteer. They then explored other voluntary work which helps the foodbank, such as work in the community centres allotment etc.

The donation was greatly received by the centre and the learners thoroughly enjoyed learning about this topic and using their time to help others. A fantastic drive and effort by the class team!

If you would like to know more about the wonderful work done at the Marsh Community centre, please visit https://marshcommunitycentre.org/