Large charities may dominate the news headlines but they are not typical of the UK charity sector. During Small Charities Week we think it’s worth shouting about the amazing work done by small charities who make up 97% of the 163,000 charities registered in the UK and are run and supported by small staff teams (2.7% of the UK workforce) and a staggering 21 million volunteers.

We are proud of what we do and the difference we make to young people. We are also very proud to be part of the national community of small charities and continue to be grateful to those organisations who are there to support the charity sector, with a particular mention to the small but mighty Small Charities Coalition.

Small charities are more likely to serve in rural areas than large urban masses and in our ‘home town’ of Sherborne there are some phenomenal charities operating to meet the local need – new ones such as Sherborne Community Kitchen which grew out of the local Covid emergency response and now provides hot meals to those going without and other long standing community organisations such as the Sherborne Good Neighbours group who provide hospital transport and other small jobs for people in need.

The Rendezvous has been operating in the local area since 1997.  We have continued to adapt and develop, stepping in to fill the gaps left by statutory services and the absence of larger charities. During the pandemic we have delivered over 1000hours of one to one support for those in need and our amazing volunteers continued to tutor young people without English and Maths any which way they could, either remotely via zoom and google classrooms or socially distanced sessions face to face.  We have supported young parents in need and are delighted the support groups are now back up and running – the smiles and laughter made the wait worth it.

We would be delighted if you would like to support us by making a donation here.