Today’s presentation on ‘Progress not Perfection’ (a series of inspirational talks this week by local businesses, hosted by @los_social_ltd on #instalive) was by Lauren, founder and organiser of the All Rise Collective (ARC).

ARC is a Southend based community group and care bank. Lauren set up ARC several years ago in a response to how people around her were feeling after the last general election. There was anger and frustration and a feeling of being let down. “I wanted to create a group of like minded people with similar values who wanted to be active within the community”.

Their hygiene/care bank was set up in response to the desperate need of many families in Southend who are living below the breadline. These families cannot afford to provide basic essentials for their children or themselves. This bank relies solely on the kindness of others and is funded 100% by public donations. It runs fortnightly out of St Mark’s Church in Southend and as it is a ‘non-referral’ unit, families do not need to be registered to receive items. They just need to turn up.

Lauren’s goal was to make ARC accessible for everyone - not just those it supported but those who are willing to give up their time for free. It seems that the volunteers are the lifeblood of this collective and they make everything happen. There are simple collection points (purple boxes) dotted around Southend for product donations and all money raised goes directly into buying more donations for those that need it most. ARC pride themselves as being a place of solidarity based on trust. They believe that everyone should have dignity and decency and should have access to everyday hygiene essentials.

Helping out in anyway you can will help ARC and the families it supports. However, if you are not local to Southend, reach out to others in your community and find out what banks and organisations are available there that need help.

So how can you help? Firstly, no donation is ever too small.

Lauren says there are lots of ways in which they’d love you to help…

CARE: ARC’s slogan is ‘caring is a radical act’ - so the first step really is to care. Care about what is happening to other people. By caring we then all naturally become more proactive.
SHARE: Share events and posts on All Rise Collective’s social media pages. Get involved and invite friends along
DONATE:
- donate money: be it a monthly direct debit donation or a one off amount when you can afford it
- donate items for the care bank (shower gel, nappies, sanitary products…) - there are purple boxes at various locations around Southend - see image below for full list or visit their Easho or Amazon WishList through their Linktr.ee below
- donate your time
GET IN TOUCH: you might have a skill ARC could utilise

Lauren is passionate and committed to this cause and her talk was emotive and serious. It is just so sickening that we live in an age of plenty yet people are still suffering. There are many problems with our politics, welfare system and society as a whole in this country, but with organisations such as ARC, a difference can be made to the lives of families struggling right now. And they would love you to help.

Visit…..

@allrisecollective

www.linktr.ee/Allrisecollective

Zoë x

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JOURNAL

All Rise Collective : Radical Empathy and a Southend Care Bank