West Norfolk Befriending held our first coffee morning at Downham Market Town Hall last Friday, 17th November. It was lovely to see so many new faces who came to have a cup of tea, a slice of homemade cake and a good chat. Our raffle was very popular thanks to some very generous donations from local businesses such as Barkers Bros, Morrisons and Tescos. We had great support from our volunteers who served up refreshments, spoke to the visitors and explained how our services work and the rewards they get from volunteering for WNB. We raised a total of £125.70 which will help to keep the charity’s services available to those most isolated in the local communities.

Local photographer, Jon Clifton as released a special edition calendar, featuring 12 beautiful photographs of sunsets taken at local coastal beauty spots. The calendars are A3 in size and spiral bound. They can be ordered from Jon’s website and cost £15 including postage. Jon is donating £1.50 from each calendar to a local charity and you can choose West Norfolk Befriending when ordering. These would make a lovely Christmas present or you could treat yourself. Click on the link below to order.

Jon Clifton Photography | West Norfolk Sunsets Calendar 2024 (zenfolio.com)

Our recent Summer Coffee morning at Orchard Close, Dersingham, was a great success. We had a number of stalls including the ever popular Tombola, book stall, cake stall and puzzle stall. Our volunteers turned up to help out and man the stalls and we had a huge turnout of visitors. James Wilde, MP, also came to support us with his wife and generously agreed to draw our raffle.

It was evident from the sound of chatter and laughter that everyone was having a lovely time and the weather didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. There was a never ending stream of teas and coffees from the kitchen and all the tables in the Community Lounge were occupied by happy customers.

It was lovely to see so many faces from our local communities and gave us an opportunity to catch up with them. We raised over £350 which will help us to continue offering our services to those isolated and in need of a befriender.

We are holding another Coffee Morning and Sale on Saturday 15th July 10am-12pm at Orchard Close Community Lounge, Dersingham PE31 6LU. There will be a tombola, raffle, book stall, puzzle stall, gift stall and cake stall. Entrance costs £1 which includes a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits. All proceeds raised will go to West Norfolk Befriending to help support socially isolated people in this area. So if you fancy a cuppa, a bargain and a natter then pop along.

We are delighted to have been awarded funding to explore wills and legacy fundraising at West Norfolk Befriending. This would be a new source of funding for us and would help to ensure the longevity of the charity. It would help the financial sustainability of our work supporting socially isolated older people.

Through this project we will work with a fundraising consultant, connect with local businesses and engage the community. Supported by Norfolk Community Foundation through Your Big Idea.

We usually hold two fundraising events each year. Our coffee mornings are always very popular and we raise a great deal of funds for our work. This year, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been unable to host our events and have really missed them – not only for the funds that we would have been able to raise but also being able to get out and about in the community and meeting people.

However, we are pleased to be able to share with three ways you can easily support us and raise funds for us – digitally!

Amazon Smile

When shopping on Amazon please go to Amazon Smile first and select West Norfolk Befriending. You will then be supporting WNB directly through any purchases that are made.

Once you’ve set it up simply shop at smile.amazon.co.uk and Amazon will donate to West Norfolk Befriending at no extra cost for you.

Going through Amazon Smile only takes extra seconds but is a way to support West Norfolk Befriending and our valuable work.

West Norfolk Wins

West Norfolk Wins is a weekly lottery run by King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council to support local charities in West Norfolk.

Please sign up to West Norfolk Wins and nominate West Norfolk Befriending. For £1 a week you will be entered into the draw to win money and other prices.

By entering the draw 60p of every £1 goes directly to support West Norfolk Befriending. There is a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize with a top prize of £25,000.

JustGiving

You can donate directly to West Norfolk Befriending through JustGiving. West Norfolk Befriending will receive the donation and any gift aid due at no cost to you or WNB. This is a free service that will make the most of your donation.

You can also fundraise for us and create a donation page on JustGiving to collect sponsorship and donations from friends, family and colleagues. Please get in touch if you are interested in fundraising for us, and we can support you in your fundraising efforts.

A little bit of funding news:

Following a public vote in Jan and Feb 2019 we received £2,000 through the Tesco Bags for Life scheme. This money funded a staff post in Downham Market. This funding has now come to an end but helped us to increase our volunteers and the clients we can support in the Downham Market area.

We are very grateful to have received a donation of £700 from the Vancouver Round Table. This donation will allow us to organise a social event for our clients to help ease their isolation and loneliness. These events provide our clients with the opportunity to socialise with their befrienders in a different environment and also meet other clients and volunteers.

Our fantastic supporter Andrew raised over £1050 for West Norfolk Befriending following his half marathon in Cambridge in March. Here he is with his medal after running the race in a brilliant 2 hours, 9 minutes and 46 seconds! His fundraising will allow us to upgrade our computer equipment. Thankyou very much to Andrew and everyone who sponsored him.

If you’d like to fundraise for us or to give a donation to help us to support socially isolated older people in West Norfolk please take a look at our justgiving profile.

We’re delighted to announce that one of our supporters, Andrew, is now training for the Cambridge half marathon and has decided to run for West Norfolk Befriending.

Andrew will be running in memory of his grandmother, Kate. In Andrew’s words, “She lived a long and happy life surrounded by a family who loved her. The work West Norfolk Befriending do means a lot to me, my Nan was extremely lucky to have such a big family. Many aren’t as blessed.”

Thank you Andrew for sharing your story, and for choosing to support us. It means a lot to us and will make a real difference to the lives of isolated older people in West Norfolk. Over the coming weeks we will be sharing updates on Andrew’s progress as he trains for the half marathon.

Have a look at his fundraising page here.

We are delighted to be part of West Norfolk Wins, a fantastic initiative for supporting your chosen local charity while being in with a 1 in 50 chance of winning a prize!

Tickets cost £1 per week, and 50% of proceeds bought from our link go straight to West Norfolk Befriending, which we put straight back into keeping our service going for more clients.

Find out more and buy tickets here. Thank you so much for your support!