This is the second year that Southport Soroptimists have worked in conjunction with The Arts Society Southport and Compassion Acts, who run the local Food Hub and Pantries around the town to distribute packs of free art materials to primary age children.
The reasoning behind the project was, with the cost-of-living crisis and the expense of keeping younger children occupied during the long school summer holidays, buying paper pens and crayons may not be a priority for parents. To make the project more inclusive, the children could also enter an art competition with the possibility of winning vouchers for further art materials if they wished.
The benefit of working as a group meant that the three societies were able to provide help and expertise in different areas. The Arts Society sourced and collected the contents of the bags and set the competition, whilst the Soroptimists assisted with the planning and the packing event. Compassion Acts were in a vital position in the fact they were able to identify families who would benefit most from the packs and then distribute them accordingly.
The cost of each bag for 2023 was £10 but it was decided to spend more this year and the eventual cost was £15 per pack. Fifty bags of materials were made up and where ever possible the contents were purchased from local businesses. Prizes for the competition came in the form of vouchers which could only be redeemed for art materials. All the competition materials were handled anonymously by Compassion Acts except where some of the competition winner families agreed to photographs.
We turned the packing event into a social occasion at the Southport Soroptimists Club Room for members of all three groups who came along to help fill the bags. Coffee and cakes were provided of course and it was a chance to meet new people and find out more about each other’s organisations.
One of the unexpected benefits, we discovered was the enjoyment we all got from working together with other agencies on a practical project with a positive outcome.
Jill Newsham
SI Southport
