Rush House 40th anniversary

Well now that the dust has had chance to settle a bit on our fantastic 40^th anniversary celebrations at New York Stadium on Friday we thought it would be a good time to look back on the event.

You wouldn’t have known, but on the morning of the event we encountered and overcame numerous technical difficulties, just in time for a seamless event from 12-3pm as planned. Phew!

We are so pleased and honoured that our founder and trustee Rosemary Boyle who has been very poorly was able to attend and enjoy the event and Lisa was able to present her with a lovely bouquet.

So just to recap, our fabulous compare was Andy Kershaw who brought with him a wealth of experience in that field, and military precision regarding time slots! He even anticipated we would finish slightly early and saw an opportunity for an off agenda item interviewing our ex- CEO’s Jim Stevens and Jo Smith that he could slip in and that would go down well.

Our CEO Rachael was the first speaker who gave a confident presentation covering the history of Rush. Next up were our service managers Lisa Rachieru, Michelle Corker and Steve Harris who were interviewed on the sofa and all talked passionately about what they love about working for Rush.

They were followed by Dr Joanne Thomson and Dr Rebecca Nock who talked about the Sheffield University placement programme and Rebecca discussed how beneficial it was to have her placement at Rush, and she is now a qualified GP.

Next ex-service users Keenan Freer, John-Luke Stephens-Platts, Amanda Haynes & Melanie Bryan were interviewed on the sofa about their experience at Rush, how it saved their lives, and what great things they have gone on to achieve.

They were followed by Tracy Gollins (CEO of YWCA), Tracy Jackson (Deputy CEO of Roundabout) & Jamie Prescott (deputy CEO of Target Housing) who were all previous employees of Rush, on the sofa – they were asked questions about their employment at Rush and how it helped them with their careers.

Next Julie Dalton CEO of Gullivers brought in some entertainment by singing happy birthday and speaking about plans for a partnership with Rush.

Ex residents Gino Moyo and Aaron Joy were interviewed next about how Rush changed their lives and how they have both gone on to study at Sheffield Hallam University and are looking forward to the future.

Next the Rush board of directors got up to speak about their passion for supporting Rush in its mission to change lives for the better.

The event was closed by Joada Allen the Chamber of Commerce president who pulled the rest of the day together by summing up the general feeling of positivity and achievement in the room and looking forward to Rush working closer with the Chamber going forward.

Our CEO Rachael was presented with a certificate for 40 years by Andrew Denniff from the Chamber of Commerce.

All that hard work paid off and created a fantastic event that we are so proud of. We would like to thank all of the staff involved in organising, the speakers, table sponsors and attendees who collectively made it so amazing.

We would also like to like to say a massive thank you to Monster Mesh who provided all our high quality roll down banners and corporate work wear. Our bespoke house shaped soaps were made in partnership with social enterprise Labra’s Hope by our service users and staff, and their soap makers who have been previously affected by homelessness. Thank you also to The Source for assistance in funding this activity. What a great collaboration!

Thanks also to those who donated raffle prizes, the Mayor for attending and drawing the raffle and to Mary the photographer for providing her services on the day even though she was offered another paid opportunity.

And it’s not like us to stand still, so watch this space to see what we are hitting the ground running with next….

Chamber offering

For our Chamber partners who would be interested in supporting us we would like to tell you about a package that we are offering. Putting a roof over our service users heads is one thing, but making it a home is another. For £100 you can purchase a help to move on pack for one of our service users, this will pay for £25 electricity, £25 gas, and £50 of soft furnishings of the person’s choice, for example a full bedding and towel set, or two cushions, a canvas and a photo frame.

Other ways you can support us are:

Volunteering day – if your organisation offers this it would be gratefully received to assist with gardening or decorating for example

Skills / knowledge sharing – by offering your expertise and support to our Brighter Futures clients, offering work placements or helping with interview techniques.

Wellbeing – such as relaxing treatments for our service users here at Rush.

Financial support – e.g. budgeting advice.

Or any other way that you think you may be able to support would be most gratefully received. A company called Monster Mesh recently assisted us by providing roll down banners and corporate work wear that were on display at our 40^th.

Please feel free to get in touch at [email protected] if you would like to help in any way. Many thanks for reading this!