Community Christmas parties and lunches across our region have enjoyed a Southern Water sparkle thanks to extra funding and support provided to community hubs.
Staff and volunteers helped to run the festivities by decorating community centres, serving lunches, and laying tables – in spaces ranging from arts centres to community hubs and homeless drop-ins, and in locations as varied as Horsham, Southampton, Brighton, Newport, and West Faversham in Kent.
In Horsham for instance, Southern Water supported the Connecting Café Christmas Lunch on Tuesday 13 December, run by Horsham Matters at St Andrew’s Methodist Church. Volunteers from Southern Water served a festive lunch to the local community and ran a free to enter Christmas present tombola for visitors.
A similar party was supported in Southampton at Monty’s Community Hub on Thursday 15 December, where a free lunch was provided to members of the local community.
This initiative is part of a wider support package for our vital community spaces, delivered in partnership with our delivery partner CMDP (Costain and MWH Treatment), which also includes Community Energy Grants. This cash can help these hubs pay their energy bills and so keep providing a home for events and classes, support groups, winter warmer spaces and befriender clubs.
This funding pots remain open in East Sussex, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight for further applications until 15 January 2023 via our website.