Work Experience - Outstanding Employer Contribution
At Maya’s Community Support Centre we have been connecting with local schools and colleges to provide work experience placements. We have several roles throughout our organisation which the students can get involved in (see the volunteers page for more information on each role).
It has been great to see so many young people completing their work experience with us and to hear feedback from Education Business Partnership who surprised us in September 2024 with the Outstanding Employer Contribution award. We look forward to continuing this partnership and welcoming more work experience students through the doors of our community centre and shops.
If you think your child would benefit from doing some work experience at Maya’s please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to arrange this.
BBC Make A Difference Award Green Category - 2024
At Maya’s community support centre there are several ways in which we reduce the waste and prevent CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. Firstly through our Free Shop which receives 100s of bags of donations everyday. The majority of these donations are textiles which if not being donated to be re-used would be sent to landfill. We carried out a survey of the free shop to confirm the weight of textiles being donated and then calculated our CO2 savings to be 7,400 tonnes in 2023. In addition to this when we collect supermarket surplus food (with over 130 collection slots each week) the national organisations we partner with give us the CO2 savings (Caboodle, Neighbourly and Fareshare). These show a further 40 tonnes of CO2 savings per year. In addition to this we collect and receive donations of furniture (beds , sofas, white goods etc) as well small electrical appliances. Our volunteers PAT test anything electrical to ensure it is safe and functioning. These are then re-distributed to the local community rather than going to landfill.
Maya and her team of volunteer directors attended the awards ceremony on the 4th September at the Historic Dockyards in Chatham where they were awarded first prize in the Green Category. The judge gave a glowing speech about the difference Maya’s Community Support Centre makes to the local community. Maya and her volunteers are very proud to be able to make such a difference to our environment whilst providing services which help 1,000s of people every week.
Food Bank of the Year Awards 2024
On Tuesday 27th February of 2024 Maya’s Community Support Centre was invited to the Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards at the Canterbury Cricket Ground. The first award of the night was Food Bank of the year with three Food Banks from Kent shortlisted ; Maya’s Community Support Centre, Gillingham Street Angels and Tonbridge Baptist Church. Nominations were received from Kent Messenger readers. We were thrilled that judge Jamie Weir (Chief Communications Officer) from East Kent Colleges Group chose our Food Bank for the Award referencing the Free Shop.
Click here to read the article from Kent Online
We run two food banks , firstly one for dry / tinned food items , this might also include washing tablets, cooking oil and pet food and is funded entirely by donations from local businesses and individuals who visit our community cafe or free shop. If you would like to donate towards this please click here (any donation is gratefully received and helps directly to feed those in need in our community).
Our second food bank is a fresh (supermarket surplus food bank). We are registered with three national schemes (Caboodle, Neighbourly and Fareshare) and collect over 100 slots from local supermarkets per week. Our army of volunteers give up not only their own time but fuel to bring food to our food bank every day of the year to ensure that there is enough food to feed the families that are waiting every night at the Community cafe at 9pm.
We are always looking for volunteers to help (either collect food or to help in the food bank to arrange the food when it arrives and hep with the distribution). It is hard work but very rewarding click here if you would like to know more about joining our volunteering team
Pride of Britain Awards 2023
Out of the blue Maya received a phone call whilst working in the Community Cafe in the Spring of 2023. She was told she had been nominated 100s of times for Pride of Britain, some people had included in their nomination that seeing what Maya and her volunteers do everyday for the local community had given them a real sense of pride in Herne Bay. ITV produced a video for all of the finalists to showcase the community achievements click here to view the video . Maya was again surprised at work in the community cafe on Friday 15th September 2023 by a film crew and presenter from ITV who presented with her the award.
The ceremony was on the 8th October 2023 Maya once again chose an outfit from the hire rail at the Free Shop and asked the social media following to pick from the seven dresses we had kindly been donated. Click here to view the video she posted on Facebook
The awards were a Glitzy star studded awards ceremony at Grovesnor House in London. Maya and Andrew attended the awards night without any shoes or socks to highlight poverty.
Herne Bay Community Add magazine published a write up on the evening. Click the image below to see the full article.
Herne Bay Carnival Best Float Trophy
On Saturday the 12th August 2023 Maya’s Community Support Centre entered a float in the Herne Bay Carnival. The theme was the Coronation.
The local community donated bunting and flags, several kind well wishers made an outfit for Maya which was fit for a Queen. On the float were volunteers and their families who were distributing sweets and chocolates kindly donated to the food bank. Also Soft toys (which had been donated to the free shop) were distributed from the Float.
Maya and her team were thrilled to be awarded the Best Float by Tom Mellish (Sherif).
Royal Coronation Garden Party May 2023
In recognition of the community work Maya’s Community Support Centre has achieved since formally being setup in December 2022, Maya was nominated to attend one of the Coronation Garden Parties. Maya and Andrew (Director at Maya’s) visited Buckingham palace and were presented to Sophie Duchess of Wessex before meeting King Charles.
In the run up to the event there was a flurry of activity at the Community Cafe. Many people visited and offered to provide Maya with an outfit, Jewellery or a fascinator / hat. Maya was launching a hire rail at this time for those needing formal attire but unable to justify purchasing an expensive outfit which might only get one use. The (free) Hire rail is available by appointment only (click here to contact us) and includes prom dresses, suites, cocktail dresses, wedding dresses. This is where Maya selected her outfit for the event.
The event attracted some media coverage click here to read the Kent online article
