What happened during The Noise 2021?
It’s been a couple of weeks since The Noise 2021 took place, and we are so delighted to share about lots of positive stories and interactions that were made possible by volunteers across the city sharing their time and skills.
We held a number of events and activities over the weekend, with a focus on helping people in our communities to reconnect - particularly after the challenges and isolation of the past year. Over the weekend, volunteers from different churches hosted:
5 Pop-up takeaway cafés plus a family craft session
4 Community treasure hunts
Cream tea deliveries to over 500 senior citizens across three parts of the city
Volunteers also tackled around 50 different practical community projects within homes, in public spaces and a community centres or schools. And, as always, everything was FREE!
Check out photos from the weekend here and watch our weekend review video too!
Stories and Feedback
It's been wonderful to hear stories from the different volunteer teams and feedback from individuals who received support or connected with our community events over the weekend. We love hearing how the positive actions of volunteers participating in The Noise have a ripple effect to individuals, their families and the wider community.
"A huge thank you to all volunteers who helped us beyond our wildest dreams yesterday on the 2 garden sites in Redcliffe."
Redcliffe Gardening Club
It was great to work with a team of six volunteers from Stockwood Free Church this year, who came together to give support to a neighbour in their community who needed support with their garden, after facing a number of challenges.
At the start of the day, the garden could only be described as a jungle, but by working together, the team transformed the space into something unrecognisable! You can see from the photos here…
We were delighted to provide some practical coordination to facilitate this over The Noise weekend.
"Today I have witnessed what still seems to be an unfolding miracle. Your work on that garden today has been truly "gob-smacking"... By lunchtime we had already got further than I thought we could possibly achieve in a whole day. By the end of the day you had all transformed the garden.
I spoke to the owner several times during the day. Her eyes were full of tears every time and she could not thank you all enough. We can engage in all sorts of clever conversations with folk, but that garden tells a story all of its own."
Stockwood Garden Project
While it wasn’t possible to host indoor gatherings to bring together older members of our communities, a few churches joined together to deliver cream tea parcels to senior citizens on their doorstep - with a friendly chat too!
It was lovely to hear some feedback from those who had received a parcel - some of whom had been shielding for the whole year.
"I am writing this letter to say a 'Big Thank you' to all the people who took part in making up parcels for the elderly. Making scones and then get someone to deliver. It is good to know that us 'oldies' are not forgotten."
Cream Tea Recipient