Supporting the London Irish Centre

How your support has helped people in the community

BITA has a long history of supporting charities and has been working with the Lighthouse Club almost since our founding in 2012. The Lighthouse Club has remained as a main charity of BITA, one that we continue to support as an organisation, and as of 2019 we have also been working with the London Irish Centre.

Since the Gala Ball in 2019, BITA has been working with the London Irish Centre (LIC) to raise awareness and funds for their incredible initiatives. The LIC has served the Irish community in London since it was first established in 1954 and continues to offer a range of services to people within the Irish community, some of whom have attended the Centre for many years. Aligned to our core values, the London Irish Centre is sensitive and responsive to the needs of all people, and we want to extend our services to other communities as part of an inclusive, multicultural approach with the aim of building resilient and cohesive neighbourhoods. From food delivery to cultural enrichment and befriending, the LIC works hard to achieve their vision of being ‘the Irish heart of London’. As an organisation with strong Irish roots, and a long-established chapter in London, we thought it was an ideal charity for BITA members to get behind.

In 2020, when we were seeing the impact of lockdowns, BITA decided to donate £20 to our two organisational charities; The LIC and the Lighthouse Club, each time a member joins us. This is an initiative that we continue today, and these funds go towards helping these charities help people in the community.

In 2022, we hosted our biggest event yet, our 10th Anniversary Gala Ball and Awards Ceremony at the Londoner Hotel, Leicester Square. We welcomed over 400 guests, and thanks to the generosity of our members, raised nearly £100,000 to support the LIC.

POEM WRITTEN BY ONE OF THE LIC BEFRIENDING CLIENTS

Befriending is a gentle word, a kind word. But also, such an important word. Sometimes a time comes in life when we feel lonely. It’s a feeling that can be difficult to express. Perhaps we have aged, or our health has weakened, and we don’t have that strength or energy we used to have. You become isolated, on your own, and it can pull you down. But when there is a hand to reach out to, it’s good. Time to tell a story, share some humour and maybe give a little of your experience. And to listen well. We are human, we need that contact, it’s a life source to sustain us. I value the hand that is held out to me, and I hold it with many thanks.

Without our members, raising this money would be impossible. So many of you have been incredibly generous and we wanted to know, from the LIC, how the money raised has been used. So, in their own words:

Funds from BITA have help fund and start the following initiatives

• We opened our Community Fridge (foodbank) to provide free food donations for collection every week.

• We have increased our opening hours to provide a warm space for people to gather and connect for longer this winter, particularly those who are unable to afford to heat their homes or afford Wi-Fi.

• We’ve grown our advice service offering, which covers housing, welfare benefits and culturally sensitive support like access to Irish pensions and planned repatriations

• We’ve grown our support services which offer wraparound services to people that need additional help with things like passport applications, form filling and reading documents (as many service users are illiterate).

• We started a new Enablement Walk-in Clinic every Monday, which supports people with complex needs and ensures they connect with appropriate services. Needs can include homelessness, substance misuse, social isolation/loneliness, mental health issues etc. All the officers in the above services provide one-to-one support to clients.

• We reduced the price of our community café lunches –where people can access a 2-course homemade meal for just £3.

• We were able to onboard 15 new befriender volunteers. Befriending is a free service, where befriender volunteers meet up, have regular phone calls and chat with those that may be struggling with social isolation and loneliness.

• We’ve been able to provide new, free activities, such as wellbeing walks, beginners yoga, a new community choir & toddler club with free places available, traditional Irish music & live acoustic music every week to offer community and cultural services that are accessible to everyone.

We would like to thank all our members for enriching our community and helping us rise by lifting others. We will continue to raise funds and awareness for the LIC, Lighthouse Club, and the other charities supported by their local chapters. We are thrilled to hear that your support is making such an impact on people’s lives.