During lockdown, I felt alone but the Charity Sandwell Youth in Action had my back when I needed them most and I was in a happier place thanks to the kindness they showed me. I must remember that we went through this crisis period together. I was first faced by the challenges of being a single parent and how difficult it was to raise two toddlers while working a full-time job within the Civil Service and then suddenly lose this job because of the coronavirus pandemic. With no family nearby, I was doing my best to juggle everything by myself. Despite my best efforts, I soon realised that something needed to be done. As the lockdown broke up, I ended up in a situation where I was paying out more than what I was earning. I became very stressed. As more money was going out than coming in, I ended up with thousands of pounds worth of debt.

My kids were severely affected by the whole thing. My son was particularly poorly which meant I had to struggle to get food and other essential items from local shops and local supermarkets. I felt crippled. That’s when my friend Anna mentioned the Charity SYIA. I gave them a call and the volunteers were so welcoming. They really listened to me.

After talking through my problems together over the phone, the charity discovered that they were able to provide financial support to help me feel more in control of my situation. They signposted me to Harborne Parish Lands Charity, one of their partner organisations who helped me with emergency cash and provided me money advice to help me cope with my finances in the future.   The financial support made a big difference to my life at the time and the volunteer on the phone was very kind. He explained what my priority and non-priority debt was and helped me move forward. He educated me. I could finally get a good night’s sleep.

My name is Delilah Walsh, I am a volunteer at Sandwell Youth in Action (SYIA). I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our funders (small and big) through this Covid-19 pandemic. At Sandwell Youth in Action, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of a number of funding bodies who exercised their generosity towards helping our group with emergency cash to support the vulnerable young people who needed SYIA’s support the most. This list includes among many others: The Heart of England Community Foundation, Comic Relief, The Clothworkers’ Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund. This is what their money has helped us to achieve so far:

• We have provided support advice on the Covid-19
• We have provided practical help to disadvantaged young people
• We have delivered food to vulnerable young people in need
• We have collected and delivered medicine to those with a history of chronic health problems
• We have provided day to day essentials
• We kept in touch via zoom meetings and over the phone
• We bought IT and Communication Equipment to help us link up with young people for remote learning, etc.

Through such difficult times, Sandwell Youth in Action’s volunteers like myself have shown commitment to supporting young people from the Black Country who most needed our support.

Your financial support during the pandemic has been vital in helping us reach as many young people as possible, who were less fortunate and vulnerable through this awful crisis.

On behalf of Sandwell Youth in Action, a huge heartfelt thank you to you all.

Thank you!!!!

When coronavirus hit the UK back in March, we were determined that it would not stop us to work. We immediately sprung into action to redevelop the Covid-19 Information and support Sessions so that they could be delivered virtually. But of course, like everyone else, we had no idea what the extent of the impact would be on our volunteers and on our organisation as a whole.

Many months later, we are thrilled to announce that we’ve just hit the amazing milestone of over 100 online Information Sessions run by our volunteer champions and reached over 100 young people with practical support. It’s an incredible achievement and testament to the fact that our volunteers and management committee are committed to raising awareness of Covid-19 and helping young people to take action.

We know that now, more than ever, young people affected by Covid-19 need our support. The risk of loneliness and isolation has increased and therefore so has the need for a society full of volunteers who know about the condition and can be part of the effort to help.

And so, to all of you who have participated in this effort in the past 9 months, while we navigate this new territory, thank you. And to every single one of you – we couldn't be more appreciative of your support in helping fight the stigma and misconceptions that exist around covid-19 positivity.