PKAVS : Our 2015 Charity is Announced

Our Charity Commitments in 2015

Like everyone, we have been asked by several charities to donate prizes and help support them in some way. I find it really difficult knowing how best to manage this because we obviously can’t be all things to all charities. Having thought long and hard about it, I’ve decided we will help the charities based in Perth and Kinross in two ways:

1. All Perthshire and Kinross-shire charitable events will be listed for free in our events section! So, if you’re running an event that is entirely charitable then send us the details and we’ll list this for you free of charge with a link from our social media where relevant. For this we need, date, time, venue, at least 100 words of copy about the event (no maximum) and a good photograph without any text on it.
2. We will choose an annual charity that we will support in a bigger way. This will include extra stories, adverts, collections while we’re out and about and one annual fundraiser run by us!

This year I am absolutely delighted to be supporting and highlighting the amazing work of PKAVS as our annual charity.  If you don’t know about PKAVS and their work, then you may be surprised to learn that this is a local charity that works solely to support people living in Perth & Kinross. They are the volunteers and staff who carry out the vital role in helping those folks who often fly under the radar unnoticed and unhelped.

Their aim is simple. To make life a little easier for people facing daily challenges. PKAVS helps those without support feel less alone and encourages people to believe they can overcome their personal barriers to achieve happiness and reach their goals. It’s not big, earth-shaking things that they do; it’s a million little things that add up to make a big, earth-shaking difference to the people in their care.

From city centre shopmobility to help those who are less-able get out and enjoy a day in town, to users of the wonderful Walled Garden at Murray Royal and the young carers whose childhoods are being interrupted daily with responsibilities beyond their years, PKAVS brings care and help to people who often blend into the background, their needs invisible to others around them.

These are people who live on your doorstep, go to school with your children and work in your local shop. Their needs may not stand out as obvious at first but they are very real and without a support network such as PKAVS they would remain unnoticed and unhelped.

For me, this was the clincher. There are so many great charities to choose from and as someone who has watched her sister come through Cancer, lost her Dad to a heartattack and seen many loved ones touched by various social and health issues, it was very difficult to come to a decision. However, I look at PKAVS and I see help reaching so many people right here in Perth that are struggling and I feel happy with my decision.

On a personal note, here’s the little reasons that made it easy for me to choose PKAVS. 

My Auntie Sylvia used shopmobility to get about after her heart-attack and it was amazing to see her zipping round the city centre, enjoying life again. People very dear and very near to me have suffered mental health issues – 1 in 4 of us will – and The Walled Garden has played a part in more than one recovery.  My childhood was wonderful, as was my son’s; the life of a young carer is vastly different to anything anyone of us can imagine. 

Here’s a wee taster!

• Stephen who was turned away from joining his local football club because they couldn’t support someone with a mental illness. PKAVS helped Stephen feel accepted.
• Deepa who is South Asian and was a victim of domestic abuse and suffering in silence. Knowing that we understood her culture and spoke her language, Deepa reached out to PKAVS to help her family.
• Kenneth who was made redundant from his job and found it difficult to find employment. PKAVS connected Kenneth to a volunteering role as a stepping-stone back to employment.
• Samantha who is nine years’ old and cares for her young sister who has cerebral palsy. Samantha struggles to concentrate at school and longs to have time to take part in after-school activities and hobbies like her friends. PKAVS helps Samantha be a child first, and a carer second.

A big part of the service they provide comes from local fundraising and they have plans to roll out some amazing fun events over 2015. We’ll be covering all of these and we do hope you’ll enjoy hearing more about PKAVS throughout the year and joining in on some of their fun!

Small City Big Personality is here to celebrate people from all walks of life and to highlight the amazing things that hare happening right here in Perth every day. I think PKAVS does exactly the same and I am very excited about working with everyone involved.