Quick getaway.
A brand new base for vulnerable women and girls, built in 13 days: social value projects don’t come much more rewarding. Getaway Girls is a 35-year-old charity that supports a diverse mix of women and girls across Leeds, creating opportunities to help them reach their potential, raising aspirations and building a better future. Our engineers volunteered to help construct their fresh new outpost.
POSSIBILITIES
Funded by BBC Children in Need since 2010, Getaway Girls works with those facing a variety of different challenges and barriers in their lives, from newly arrived refugees to girls who have experienced domestic violence, exploitation or sexual abuse. The charity delivers crucial support to around 800 girls and young women, and provides access to residential weekends, music sessions, sport, and other activities. It strives to improve mental health and helps girls to develop confidence and improve self-esteem, raising their aspirations for the future.
Announced on BBC Radio 2, DIY SOS’s Big Build appealed for people with a trade, skill or craft, living or working nearby, to help with the ambitious project, and presenters such as Jo Whiley were even enlisted to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.
In collaboration with Children in Need, the DIY SOS team managed to recruit quite the army of volunteers, including Hoare Lea engineers Reece Philips, Nick Reddy, Connie Campbell and Russel Greenwood, who worked together on the 13-day build with the rest of the team. By the end of that period, they had constructed a valuable new Getaway Girls outpost in Seacroft – a “much-needed safe space” allowing women to access valuable support and advice, as DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles put it.
“Having worked all over the world, but always lived in or around Leeds, I couldn’t be more passionate about improving the social value of the area’s buildings and spaces,” says Russel Greenwood, Director at Hoare Lea. “It was brilliant to be involved in the brilliant Getaway Girls project in Seacroft, supporting vulnerable women and girls. With Children in Need we helped the DIY SOS team build a new base which includes a crèche, activity spaces including a music and media studio and counselling rooms plus a welcoming garden.”
“Getaway Girls’ new space built is fantastic,” says Flavia Docherty, Getaway Girls’ Director. “We’ve run events with performances, groups, cooking sessions, DJing, MCing, arts and the crèche. We love the garden where the girls can sit and talk, hold basketball competitions, have barbecues, and enjoy the sunshine. Thanks to the team for contributing their skills to create such a wonderful space. We celebrated our 35th birthday in July and it’s great to have such an amazing space going forwards for the next 35 years.”
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