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Young people have been getting involved and leading by example!
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Trouble With Money
The Drop-In now runs a dedicated benefits and finance week every quarter. It's an opportunity for young people to get support from our trained volunteers in issues such as debt, budgeting and finding out what benefits they are entitled to. Here’s one young person’s story from our last benefit & finance week:
Lewis (not his real name) recently moved into the area and ‘dropped in’ for help with his CV and applying for jobs.  Volunteers built up a rapport with him over the week, where it surfaced he was in desperate financial situation.
Volunteers helped him with cooking in MyPad, referred him to the Silk Life food bank, as well as supporting him to find work, apply for benefits and prepare for interviews.  During our dedicated ‘benefit & finance week’ Lewis told a volunteer he had been in employment for a period of the previous tax year.  The volunteer supported him to contact the Inland Revenue and found he was owed a significant rebate. The same week, Lewis successfully secured a job in retail. He informed everyone of his fantastic news and thanked every single individual who had helped him through his time of need.  
However, his new employer asked Lewis to present a birth certificate as identification. This was something he didn’t have so again a volunteer supported him with the online application.   His tax rebate came through quickly; he completed his birth certificate application and went for his first shift at his new job all in the same day.  Lewis has continued to ‘Drop-In’ when he’s not working to for ongoing support. 
Our next benefit & finance week is Monday 15th- Friday 19th September.
First First Aiders
This year we have been busy coming up with new ways to help young people find their feet, as well as continuing to build on the quality of our existing services. We have also created opportunities for our service users to gain qualifications while attending and working with Just Drop-In.
In May young people trained alongside staff and volunteers and successfully gained their First Aid at Work qualification delivered by St John Ambulance. The qualification is valid for 3 years and gives young people new skills and increases their employability. The young people’s contribution was excellent and they certainly got a lot out of the day. Shannon Lancaster (pictured second from left) summarises her experience of the course; " The first aid training was interesting.  I enjoyed partaking in it as I think it's relevant for daily life.  Definitely a useful course to do".

We plan to expand this experience and are hoping to offer food hygiene awards by working in partnership with other local initiatives. Watch this space! 
Age Is No Restriction
We have been busy expanding our Young Volunteer Scheme; we now have 4 young volunteers who all work behind the scenes to help out at Just Drop-In. Matthew Brookes, Evan Hilton (pictured above) Danniella Lamb and Alice Waterhouse have been working hard on different themes or topics! Alice recently helped interview candidates for our next Modern Apprenticeship in Business Administration (Melanie Bracegirdle has now finished her placement).  Alice’s contribution was really important in helping us make a good decision. Matthew is coming up with new ideas to attract young men to use the Drop-In and particularly counselling services- the vast majority of our clients are female. Anyone under the age of 19 who is interested in becoming a volunteer should contact Ann Wright on 01625 665079.
Three Cheers For Volunteers!
Whilst we remain a small office team of four we have a huge support system behind us in our wonderful volunteers!  We now have over 50 volunteers working in the Drop-In, MyPad, counselling service and as trustees. 
National Volunteer Week provided us with the perfect opportunity to both celebrate and thank our wonderful volunteers, so we hosted a night of laughter celebration, food, drink and quizzing at Ronnie’s Bar in Macclesfield. The night was a great success and we look forward to doing it all again next year.
Annual General Meeting
Just Drop-In’s AGM will be held Friday 26th September in The Whitaker Room, The Old Sunday School (formerly Heritage Centre), Roe Street, Macclesfield, SK11 6UT.
Young people and volunteers will be welcoming people from 10.30am with light refreshments and MyPad baked goodies, the meeting runs 11am-12pm.  Our patron, David Rutley MP will be speaking and there will be a presentation on the value of our work. Everyone is welcome!
Fashion Show
The fashion show has now become an annual and hugely successful fundraising event.  This year it will be held in the autumn giving ladies the opportunity to view more mid season and winter clothes, and maybe indulge in a bargain or two!
Book your seats for a great evening on Monday 22nd September at Macclesfield Methodist Church, doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.  Tickets are £6 and must be purchased in advance, so grab yours quickly as they fly out fast, available from the Just Drop-In office or call Leo Alcock on 01625 432205. 
 
If you would like to bake a cake for our refreshments stall or donate a raffle prize please get in touch with Leo.
Comings and Goings
Welcome to our new volunteers who have joined us recently; Judith Amey, Chelsea O’Reilly, Sally Smith, Tim Lightfoot and of course our young volunteers Alice Waterhouse, Matthew Brookes, Danniella Lamb and Evan Hilton .
Thank you and goodbye to Steve Smith and Julie Mosedale who have moved on.
Our apprentice, Melanie Bracegirdle has now finished her time with us and we wish her all the best for the future.  Joining us soon will be Megan Hammonds, our new Apprentice, who is looking forwards to getting started!
Fundraising Update
We have just secured major funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Watch out for future newsletters to see how these funding streams will be aiding Just Drop-In to help young people find their feet.

In mid-July St Albans Church held a wonderful afternoon with a hog roast.  They raised over £500 which will be going towards revamping the Drop-In. Thank you to everyone who went along on the day to show their support.
Macclesfield Methodist Church made a generous donation of £300.00. Thank you for your continuous support.

Back in June our summer flag days were blessed with one day of glorious sunshine and then a full month's rain in one afternoon! They totted up a brilliant £280. Well done and thank you.
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