‘HELP is an organization designed to assist individuals in need, particularly when local services such as Leeds City Council are unable to provide the necessary support. This collaboration allows for a more comprehensive approach to community welfare, ensuring that those who require assistance can be effectively referred to HELP.
Leeds City Council offers various services aimed at improving the quality of life for its residents, including customer service support for issues like housing, benefits, and food assistance. However, recognizing that not all needs can be met directly by the council, they encourage referrals to organisations like HELP, which specializes in providing aid to those in crisis.
HELP serves as a vital resource for individuals facing challenges such as food insecurity, financial difficulties, and other essential needs. By working alongside local government initiatives, HELP enhances the support network available to residents of Leeds, ensuring that no one has to navigate their struggles alone. This partnership exemplifies a commitment to community welfare and effective resource allocation’.
Bid Dey, Leeds City Council
‘I came across CAHLP by coincidence after seeing a poster advertising some of the vocational courses that they offer to the community.
This sparked my interest in the support they might have been able to provide our customer so I reached out to May to ask if we could meet and talk more about the work they deliver in the community and any support we, as a housing association, might be able to offer them.
I was blown away at our first meeting by the amount of work they do within the community, especially via The Help Project – it’s clear this is a vital service for many people in the Harehills and Chapeltown area, especially with the cost-of-living crisis and the cultural and language barriers this specific community faces. From energy and food vouchers, to PIP claims, benefit support and digital inclusion support, The Help Project really does just that – it HELPS!
Following on from our initial meeting we supported CAHLP with a small grant to go towards energy vouchers, have introduced them to the charity bank to assist with future loan options and excitingly, we are working on a partnership lottery application with themselves and three other grassroots organisations; looking at supporting young people with pathways into various opportunities and support.
I couldn’t be happier to have come across that A4 poster which has now led into a great, fruitful partnership which I hope will last many, many years’.
Georgie Kay, Community Connector, Places for People
‘May provides an invaluable service to the Ukrainian community here in Leeds. Many of our refugees arrive here having fled their homes without finance and with none of their personal possessions such as mobile phones or the other digital devices that we all tend to take for granted nowadays.
The laptops that May donates to vulnerable Ukrainian families has provided them with an absolutely invaluable link to the outside world. The opportunity to study online, to communicate with others in the Ukrainian community, to access support information and to better integrate into their new life in the UK is a truly priceless gift’.
Hannah Ward, Migrant Project Support Worker, Leeds City Council
‘This testimony will be discussing my experiences working with and as a member of the CAHLP team, specifically my time working in the HELP Team.
I began my time with the HELP Team as a requirement of my undergraduate university degree professional learning through work (PLTW) component, in order to produce a report aimed to analyse my professional working skills and prepare me for post-graduation employment.
Luckily for me during the application and interview process, May and the rest of the team showcased great communication and offered to take me on as part of my first PLTW placement. This first PLTW placement consisted of 175 hours of work over a number of weeks. This initial placement was a real eye opener for me and exposed me to the realities of work life and the lives of the most disadvantaged members of our society I otherwise wouldn’t have seen and learnt from. I often recount my first week with the team as an incredibly nervous time as, being a disabled and visually impaired person, this was my first real experience with any kind of paid employment. But, thanks to May, Robert and the supportive environment within the HELP Team my nerves soon left me and I began to take each day in its stride. The main thing I derived from this first placement was that the work the HELP team does for Harehills and the surrounding communities, is irreplaceable for our clients and without them many of them would be left to fend for themselves with little and in most cases no support.
Because of these experiences, I was more than happy to rejoin the team as part of an inclusivity grant given to CAHLP for hiring a physically disabled individual as myself, for which I will always be grateful for. I reinserted myself into the HELP Team, and began to undertake more clients, and even developed a working one-on-one relationship with many of the ‘regulars’. At this point in my professional career, the lessons I had learned at the HELP team really began to develop as I was given more individual responsibility and I am of the belief that without the trust and belief given to me by May, I would not be the professional I am today. Once this grant period had concluded, I was lucky enough to be offered a permanent part-time position at the organisation and even went on to meet several members of the management team during the holiday celebration and am happily still with the team to this day’.
As I said, working as part of the HELP Team truly made me realise how the people of the communities that CAHLP provide help for, truly need it. The clients and families that the Help team provides support to, whether that be providing food vouchers or support with the rising cost of living, without the HELP Team many of them would struggle to find any other options and suffer. One of the services that is provided to our clients which I view as important as a disabled person is PIP form assistance and advice.
I know from personal experience that these forms contain complex English and difficult themes which many find confusing, so I could not imagine how difficult that would be as non-native English speakers like the majority of our clients, and without the support of the Help team, the majority of them would be without the benefits they’re entitled to and more importantly that they rely on.
In summary, the CAHLP and the HELP Team have given me a welcoming environment, which allowed me to develop both as a person and as a professional, and provides a much needed service for the most disadvantaged members of the Leeds communities’.
Michael Catchpole, Ex volunteer
Client Testimonials
‘My name is Theresa Fasan and I happened to be one of the beneficiaries of the CAHLP. If I had an opportunity to write a book about my experience in Leeds, CAHLP Help Team service, will be chapters one and two .
We left Austria (my family and I) in 2020. There was a particular day that we did not have food to eat and were directed to the Help Team. The team took it upon themselves to help us with food items and went further by giving us calling cards i.e. (Vodafone sim cards) Unknowingly to them that we could not afford to buy a £5 card My husband and I, were given one each and the cards lasted us 6 months per card.
Since then they call us for gifts or various other supplies. Sometimes they bring the gifts and food items down to our house. These are some of the numerous gifts that they gave to my family, which entail a tablet for my little children, a laptop, shoes, bags, food, clothes, and Aldi/fuel vouchers .
For the past five months they have been calling me to get ready to receive some shopping. They have bought us new jackets, caps, and gloves from Tescos . They gave us gifts for our children during Christmas and Easter. There was a time that my daughters high school clothes became small for them. I kept economising with them and encouraged them that all will be ok. It was as if the Help Team knew about this. They suddenly showered us with lots of clothes to the extent that I had to give some away.
I had a few clothes to wear in the past and I was contented with them, since I could not afford to buy any. The Help Team went ahead to flood my home with clothes. I do say to myself what exactly was I wearing before. However, the team gifted me with many nice clothes. I now look at all that I have now, and they are all from them. It was then when I realised that I had an exceedingly small amount of clothes for myself.
We love the Help Team and God almighty will reward them for all that they have done for us. I say a very “big thank you “ to them all’.
Theresa Fasan, Help Team Client
‘Hello I am Fatoumata Sillah. I am so grateful for the help team, they have given me food and vouchers also even that they did deal with immigration. They still help us get in touch with people who could they even us to get in touch with an solicitor from Manchester with help with immigration. Thanks so much we appreciate it so much’.
Fatoumata Silah, Help Team Client