A group of young people at Ledley Hall Youth Club in Belfast, Northern Ireland, have created a ‘Kindness Hut’ full of donations to help those who need it in east Belfast.
The Ledley Hall Youth Club Kindness Crew consists of a group of five to 11-year-olds. They have come together to come up with new ways to show kindness and help people.
They have created the Kindness Hut, which consists of everything from food to school uniforms and more. The goal is to help local families who need an extra bit of support.
The kids have been gathering bits and bobs to fill the Kindness Hut for months. They have ensured they can share a bit of something with everybody who needs it.
East Belfast ‘Kindness Crew’ helping their local community – take only what you need
The ethos of the Kindness Hut, which has been sprayed painted on the side of it, is “Take only what you need. If everyone shares there is enough to go around”, as well as, “In a world where you can be anything be kind”.
Members of the crew told Belfast Live that they were aware of the rising costs of living and how it impacts local families. They hope that using the hut could help those who need it.
The Kindness Hut has come to be from a number of areas of support. This also includes grant funding from the Education Authority.
They also have support from AA Veterans Support, local artist Blaze FX, Allied Bakeries, M&S, and more.
A wonderful gesture close to Christmas – they’ve thrown their hearts and souls into the Kindness Hut
Michelle Fullerton of Ledley Hall said, “We used to have a table at the front of the youth club where people from the community would be able to collect groceries and other items if they were ever in need.
“However in bad weather it would mean that everything got very wet and eventually our table was actually stolen from the youth club.
“The kids were disappointed by this and wanted to continue helping people and came up with the idea of creating a ‘Kindness Hut’ that would be able to protect all the items and keep them safe for others to pick up.”
Michelle said that the kids have “really thrown their hearts and souls into it”. She said, they “even sat down together to apply for the grant funding from the EA themselves and come up with exactly how they wanted the hut to look and be designed”.
The crew – 15 dedicated youngsters
Members of the Ledley Hall Youth Club are able to join the crew when they display kindness, caring, and gratitude.
So, the process is very simple. The donations they receive go into the hut and people are able to take whatever they need.
Michelle said, “It works very simply, where we will put all of our excess donations that we receive into the hut and people are able to pick up anything they need, whether that is a loaf of bread and some juice or baby clothes and school uniforms”.
Email [email protected] for more information or to make a donation.