CHARITY OF THE WEEK: We take a look at the important work carried out by Ripon Community Link

Ripon Community Link is a charity that supports adults and young people with a variety of learning and physical disabilities, by providing high-quality work-based learning and day care services – focused on choice, individuality, and integration.

The charity regularly supports over 60 people at their two sites, Ripon Walled Garden and St Wilfrid’s Bungalow, giving members and volunteers the opportunity to socialise and make lasting friendships, alongside meaningful possibilities to develop existing skills, plus the chance to learn new ones.

Throughout the week, there is a very busy and varied timetable of activities and sessions available, designed to offer a wide range of learning opportunities for everyone.

Like many charities and community groups across the Harrogate district, the Covid-19 pandemic affected the way the organisation worked and they had to adapt their services to ensure that they could still operate.

Victoria Ashley, CEO of Ripon Community Link, said: “At the beginning of the pandemic, our priority was to maintain our services to those who needed us as it was essential to provide routine, normality and to maintain our learning opportunities.

“We quickly realised that our IT infrastructure was lacking, but we made up for this with an incredible team who were innovative and creative, establishing a comprehensive Monday to Friday timetable full of activities via zoom and a range of activity packs.

“We were very fortunate to receive a DCMS grant from the Rank Foundation to invest in our IT equipment on site and also provide tablets for members to use at home so that they could access our online support and activities."

The charity began planning for a safe return to site based services urgently, which required improving their current facilities including increasing classroom space to facilitate social distancing.

Work was carried out which saw their tearoom transformed into a classroom, a porta cabin refurbished, a brand new toilet block installed and a brand-new purpose built fully accessible building was created.

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Victoria added: “I am humbled by the remarkable and generous response from donors who have supported our efforts to reach this important milestone for the charity as part of our response to the Covid pandemic.

“This provides an incredible bespoke facility to meet our current social distancing challenges which remain in social care and has the flexibility to adapt for the future development of our services."

Carolyn Sands, Chair of Trustees at Ripon Community Link, added: “ I am so incredibly proud of the commitment of the team and the strong leadership at the charity that we were able to re-open our day services safely in November 2020, only eight months after we entered the first national lockdown.

“The incredible facility improvements that have been made have only been possible due to the generosity of so many supporters, to who we are incredibly grateful for.”

Volunteers are essential to Ripon Community Link and they simply couldn’t do all the work they do without them.

Volunteering is a rewarding experience and it is an opportunity to try something new, gain experience and make lifelong friends.

There are currently a range of volunteering opportunities available, including working in their garden, helping in the tea room, assisting with sports, craft and dance sessions, admin work or general maintenance of the facility.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you can get in contact with Carolyn by emailing [email protected]

There are a number of ways that you can support Ripon Community Link, including by visiting the site and purchasing handmade gifts and produce from their shop, plants, logs and compost from their garden nursery, or by popping in for a slice of cake and a cup of tea or coffee.

You can also donate by visiting their website or joining in with the Local Lotto.

For more information about Ripon Community Link, visit https://www.riponcommunitylink.org/

Are you working with or getting any support from a charity in the region that deserves some support and credit after the difficult Covid lockdowns? We would love to hear from you!

Write to [email protected]

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