Could You Sponsor the Ypeople Team?

Announcing: The Yladies Lunch and Fashion Show

Last year our Yladies Lunch and Fashion Show was a sell-out success! Encouraged by this, we've decided to make sure this year's event is bigger and better than ever. We are very pleased to announce that the event has a brand new headline sponsor – Taggarts Motor Group.

Taggarts Motor Group have been extremely generous in their support, and will be providing top prizes for the raffle, including the use of a Jaguar for a weekend. Taggarts is one of the best known names in the Scottish motor trade. Since the company was established in 1896 the business has gone from strength to strength. They now have two showrooms, one in Glasgow and one in Motherwell. They offer a diverse range of quality motor brands including Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Nissan, Hyandai and Peugeot.

To celebrate the sponsorship, a team from Taggarts visited our Maryhill services Branston Court along with a selection of their cars. As you can see in the photo above – the visit was much appreciated by the young people who live at Branston Court.

We are confident that Taggarts' support will enable us to exceed the enormous success of last year's Yladies Lunch and Fashion Show which rased £8,000 for our network of services.

The event will again be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, a luxury Glasgow City Centre location. It will take place on Saturday June 23rd. Guests will enjoy a two course lunch and fashion show as well as access to a wide range of retail exhibitors.

To book a ticket for the event, please contact Debbie Fraser on d.fraser@ypeople.ork.uk or on 0141 565 1526.

Training for the 10k - The Ypeople Team

Some of the Ypeople Team after last year's Glasgow 10k

Last May a team of Ypeople staff members and volunteers took part in the Ignis Asset Management Glasgow 10k to raise funds for the organisation. They all completed the 10k at a walking pace – and raised a significant sum for Ypeople by doing so.

This year, staff members Debbie, Shona, Jennifer and Lucy are taking their involvement to the next level. They're determined to complete the 10k for a second time – and this time they plan to run it! As you can imagine, this is a serious commitment which will involve a great deal of training. The Ypeople team will be starting a twelve week training course on the 12th February at Bellahouston Park which aims to get them from walking a 10k to running one.

As we blogged about last week, we're looking for women who would like to take on the 10k run in aid of Ypeople and the vital work we do. Whether you plan to walk the 10k or run it, we're very keen to hear from you. The Ignis Asset Management 10k takes place on Sunday 13th May and full details can be found here.

We're also looking for volunteers who are undergoing training for the Glasgow 10k or another race and would like to both raise funds for Ypeople and share their training progress here on our blog. If this is you, please get in touch on 0141 565 1526.

We'll be keeping you up to date with the Ypeople staff team and their training. In the meantime, we wish them luck with their first training session!

Ycommunity Case Study - Rose and Mohammed

Ycommunity is a free service for asylum seekers and their families which has been developed by Ypeople in North Glasgow. Currently it operates from the 28th floor of 33 Petershill Drive, a multi-storey block in which many asylum seekers and their families are accommodated while awaiting decisions on their future.

The service is needed because asylum seekers who exist on below benefit-level payments and need material help as a result, also need social, emotional and practical support with the high level of stress they experience. At Ycommunity we provide a TV and Cafe area, free computer and internet use, donated food, games, clothes, books, table tennis and board games, a play area and toys for children and ESOL English Classes.

This is an invaluable service to people who are at a very vulnerable time in their lives having arrived in our country having fled from violence, torture or persecution in their own county. Many arrive with just the clothes they have on and may have been separated from their loved ones.

Below is just one case study of how Ycommunity has helped

Rose and her 8 year old son, Mohammed are from Syria. On their first day living in 33 Petershill Drive they came to a Ycommunity drop in session. Both Rose and Mohammed were pale and looked frightened. Mohammed was clutching a teddy to his chest and stuck closely to his mother’s side. Neither of them spoke any English at all.

Ycommunity staff introduced Rose to other Arabic speaking women. Rose asked the other women questions she had about the local area and was able to get advice about local shops, schools and get some reassurance about what was going to happen to her and Mohammed.

The children encouraged Mohammed to join in with their crafts. Mohammed quietly joined in with making Eid decorations.

Rose and Mohammed came to almost all the women’s and children’s drop in sessions. Rose developed enough confidence to communicate with staff and would use other service users to help her translate. Rose explained that she liked Ycommunity because it was where she was able to make new friends. Her new friends were able to help Rose with child care and when one of the ladies she knew through Ycommunity was grieving for a family member Rose was able to offer support and help.

Through Ycommunity Mohammed was able to make new friends. His friends helped him grow in confidence and also helped him learn English. The staff saw a remarkable change in Mohammed. Over an 8 week period he grew from a shy, anxious boy to a boy full of mischief that took part in all the activities and was able to welcome new children when they arrived.

If you would like to donate to Ypeople to help people like Rose and Mohammed click here.