Wandsworth Care Alliance

WCA – Annual General Meeting 2025

by

We are so thankful to those who were able to attend Wandsworth Care Alliance’s (WCA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 29th of September at Tooting Works.  

We had over 40 attendees come to hear about the great work we have been doing over the last year. 

Our CEO Jason Edgington began proceedings by welcoming attendees before handing over to our Chair Donna Covey. Donna provided some highlights from our 2024-2025 Statement of Impact Report including the 84 newsletters and funding e-bulletins we published, the 1,350 voices we captured to help shape health and care services.   

You can read more about all the work we have done here in our full Statement of Impact Report. 

Attendees then also heard directly from some of the organisations we have helped support including The Strength Project, Ruils and S.T.O.R.M. We also heard from representatives from the NHS South West London Integrated Care Board and Wandsworth Council about projects WCA has been involved in. 

Our Deputy Director Sarah Cook also drew attention to the theme of Power in Partnership speaking about how WCA came into existence and our focus on supporting small organisations to grow and support the communities they serve. 

The presentation can be found here

To do this we recognise that we have to work collaboratively and build systems that empower small organisations to drive health, wellbeing and social change. 

As a result, we facilitated discussions with our attendees to understand what we need to put in place to ensure collaboration works in Wandsworth. From these discussions we have identified 8 key actions Wandsworth Care Alliance and the voluntary sector can take to enable effective collaboration. These are: 

  1. Create and maintain a shared service directory  
  1. Develop a communications charter and code of conduct  
  1. Facilitate networking opportunities  
  1. Align collaboration at neighbourhood level  
  1. Support inclusive collaboration practices  
  1. Build mechanisms for equity and accountability  
  1. End competition for funding where possible  
  1. Ensure succession planning and sustainability  

We look forward to working closely alongside other organisations and the community in order to achieve this and will provide updates as we develop our action plan. 

Thank you again to all those who attended and we hope to see you at our other events in the near future! You can stay up to date with our work and be informed of future events by signing up to our newsletter. 

Sanctuary for Sisterhood and The Hope Atrium; Community champions combatting Mental health challenges in the community

by

Each year, World Mental Health Day reminds us that good mental health is a universal right, one that depends on awareness, compassion, and collective action. This year, we’re shining a light on two incredible local organisations, Sanctuary for Sisterhood CIC and The Hope Atrium, whose work shows how community-led initiatives can break stigma, nurture resilience, and make mental wellbeing more accessible for everyone.

The Sanctuary for Sisterhood CIC

Aurnela Madede is the Founder and CEO of Sanctuary for Sisterhood CIC, a community organisation empowering women through mental health awareness, holistic wellbeing, and creative expression.

A survivor of domestic violence, Aurnela has transformed her personal pain into purpose becoming a powerful advocate for women’s mental health and empowerment. Through Sanctuary for Sisterhood, she has created a safe, nurturing space where women can rebuild confidence, heal, and rediscover self-worth through therapy, peer support, and creative workshops such as painting, pottery, and perfume making.

A passionate champion for women of colour, Aurnela uses her platform to challenge systemic inequalities in housing, therapy, and healthcare, ensuring that marginalised women are heard and respected. Her work continues to inspire a growing community of women to rise beyond adversity with strength, joy, and self-belief.

The Hope Atrium

Lystra Charles and Dr Carlis Douglas are joint founders of The Hope Atrium, a community-interest company dedicated to improving mental health among African and African-Caribbean communities in Wandsworth. They lead the Community Wellbeing Champions initiative, training volunteers from local churches and individuals in the community to support mental wellbeing. One of the programmes delivered by Dr Carlis and Lystra is From Surviving to Thriving (FS2T), a programme empowering people to challenge mental-health inequalities through education and community action.

Working closely with faith leaders, voluntary organisations, and health professionals, Dr Carlis and Lystra help create trauma-informed, culturally sensitive spaces where people can share experiences and build resilience. Their leadership has been nationally recognised for reducing mental-health inequalities and strengthening trust between services and Black and minority-ethnic communities.

Dr Carlis and Lystra’s work embodies community-led change, transforming lived experience into collective strength and fostering a culture of care, connection, and empowerment.

Community at the heart of Wellbeing

This World Mental Health Day, Sanctuary for Sisterhood and The Hope Atrium remind us that mental health support begins in our communities through empathy, shared experience, and collaboration. Their work demonstrates the power of grassroots action: creating safe spaces, challenging inequality, and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to heal and thrive.

Together, they embody the spirit of this year’s World Mental Health Day championing inclusion, dignity, and wellbeing for all.

Visit Sanctuary of sisterhood CIC to learn more about their services and their work or contact them on info@sanctuaryforsisterhood.co.uk

Visit The Hope Atrium to learn more about their services and work or contact Lystra on lystra@thehopeatrium.org

Sustainability September 2025: A Passion for Community & Sustainability; Paul’s Volunteering Story with Power 2 Connect

by


Paul’s volunteering journey
Paul who came through the volunteering Wandsworth platform after a successful google search of “Wandsworth Volunteering” is a resident of Battersea and is currently a volunteer at one of our provider charities on the platform, Power 2 Connect. Paul who has previous volunteering experience at the London 2012 Olympics is no stranger to the world of volunteering.

Having registered to the Volunteering Wandsworth platform and seeing all the roles available found that Power to Connects posted volunteering opportunity caught his attention. Paul says he “thought it was an interesting fit”. Paul focuses on the digital champion and digital drop ins aspect of the Power 2 Connects work.

Paul has a background in business, financial exclusion and digital exclusion which he is very keen on. He also has an interest in volunteering, some spare time and lives locally which has also been a driving force behind deciding to volunteer.

Paul has been volunteering with Power 2 Connect for at least a year starting in September 2024. Doing 2-hour sessions every 2 weeks and more days when he is available. The process of joining the Power 2 Connect team was a quick process with Paul shadowing and assisting with helping the service users early on. Joining Power 2 Connect was not about gaining skills for Paul but about offering his time.

Power 2 Connect’s sustainability work and Pauls thoughts on their work

Paul feels it is very interesting how the sustainability piece comes into the work that is done around donations and grants of hardware. Donations come in and things are tidied up and cleaned up both physically and from a software basis and passed on to people who might not have access to a tablet or laptop to help them with their homework or job applications. This is both a digital exclusion matter and also solving another problem around sustainability. It’s helping perfectly working equipment that may no longer be useful for the initial purpose it was bought whether by the council or individual and giving it a new life which helps to avoid and reduce the amount of e-waste caused.

It’s a passion of Pauls that we avoid things going into landfill believing that the best way is not to recycle but to instead reuse. Paul knows that the reused equipment may have only years left of use but believes that this is better than having to get new resources out of the ground and putting old resources into the ground unnecessarily. The digital exclusion and sustainability create a beautiful virtuous circle whereby Power 2 Connect is helping the community to use resources in a way that would never be possible if you were trying to buy things off the shelf and providing access as well as the skills to use the equipment and give it another life.

This hopefully helps young people to succeed in their schooling which only then goes on down the chain and down the generations to help people change the world in whatever career it is that they are doing. You have to look at the long term view of how these small aspects can have a snowball effect further down through life, which excites me. There might be someone there who without the laptop wouldn’t get those marks, wouldn’t get that degree and wouldn’t do something amazing whether that is healing people, creating amazing literature or whatever it is that they are going to do by having access to those tools and those skills.

Paul’s thoughts on his impact at Power 2 Connect through volunteering in the community

I feel good knowing that I can help chip away at confusion or a lack of knowledge, and hopefully someone leaves with a bit more understanding than when they arrived. A lot of what I do is about building confidence, giving people the chance to experiment and apply what they’ve learned. When that happens, they’re able not only to solve problems themselves but also to pass on what they’ve learned to others. It feels great to know I’m making a difference in someone’s life.

I also enjoy helping to fix and repurpose laptops and being part of the team working toward this bigger purpose. Power 2 Connect are very good at keeping volunteers informed about the wider impact of our work, which makes a big difference. I see regular service users coming back to the drop-ins, which shows both how valuable the service is and how much people want to keep learning.

It’s fantastic to see that growth. When people return, you notice their confidence has grown, their skills are building, and the conversations move beyond the basics. That’s when you know real progress is happening.

Paul enjoys volunteering for now whilst he has the time and hopes to continue with Power 2 Connect.

To volunteer or support Power 2 Connect click here.

Sustainability September 2025: Power2Connect Volunteer chat with Joshua

by


How did you come across Power2Connect?
Volunteer: I was speaking to my teacher, and he suggested that I should check for volunteering opportunities on the Volunteering Wandsworth website as I live in Roehampton.

Why did you choose to volunteer with Power2Connect?
Volunteer: I chose to volunteer with Power2Connect because I was studying computer science for my masters and I wanted to get some hands-on experience. Coming here I was being taught how to do some hardware and software stuff.

Sometimes the laptops come without a RAM (Random access memory), and we will get it from another laptop and we will put it into the one that we want to give out. Sometimes we change the drives also. Once the process with the laptops is complete, we add a sticker, and the laptop is ready to be distributed. I’ve completed about 30 laptops in one day whilst volunteering at Power2Connect. Joshua was happy to be volunteering at Power 2 Connect and contributing to the cause of sustainability in the borough. Not only is he able to contribute he is able to gain further experience as a graduate in the area of IT and have a routine for his week when he is not working part time. Joshua has invited friends to also get involved with volunteering at Power 2 Connect.

Inspired by Joshua’s journey?
Join Power2Connect and help them to repair, refurbish, and redistribute laptops to those who need them most. Whether you’re an IT enthusiast, a student looking for hands-on experience, or simply want to make a difference, your time and skills can change lives.

Get involved today
Volunteer, donate equipment, or spread the word. Together, we can bridge the digital divide and build a more sustainable future.
Visit Power to Connect’s website here.

Corporate Volunteering: Milk & Honey PR Joins Forces with WCA

by

At Wandsworth Care Alliance (WCA), we’re always looking for ways to connect local charities with organisations who are keen to give back to their community. That’s why we were delighted to sit down with Milk & Honey PR, a global communications agency which sees its responsibility to people, purpose and planet as core business drivers.

We spoke with Havana Frakes, Client Assistant and UK Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) lead, and Petrina Marks, Senior Executive Assistant to the CEO about how their company is already giving back and what they’re looking to do next.

Milk & Honey PR is an award-winning, B Corp-certified communications agency that helps ambitious, purpose-driven organisations tell their stories and build meaningful connections. With offices in London, Munich, New York, and Singapore, the agency specialises in strategic PR, nurturing purpose driven brand reputations and creative storytelling all with a strong focus on people, purposeful impact, and positive change.

Current Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) activities:
Milk & Honey PR has always had community spirit built into its values. The team already:

  • Partners with Plan International to support young women and girls.
  • Supports charities through their Purpose Academy, a six-month pro bono training programme that equips charities and not for profit organisations with skills in PR, storytelling, and digital communications.
  • Offers each employee two volunteer days per year to dedicate to charitable causes.

“CSR is part of how we live as a business. For us, it’s about impact, seeing the real difference we can make for people in our community.” – Petrina Marks, Senior Executive Assistant at Milk & Honey PR.

Looking local: opportunities in Wandsworth

While Milk & Honey PR has previously supported local and global charities, the agency is now keen to expand its work with a renewed focus on initiatives in Wandsworth.

They’re particularly interested in opportunities where they can:

  1. Make a tangible impact that’s visible in the community.
  2. Support causes within easy reach of their Clapham office.
  3. Contribute their professional communications skills as well as their time.
  4. Work with charities where their efforts can be used effectively, without additional costs for the charity.

From helping at food banks, to packing donations, to running creative fundraising events, the team is open to a wide range of opportunities.

Havana Frakes added, “For us, CSR is a moral obligation to give back to the communities we live and work in and team bonding is an added bonus.”

Sharing skills and stories

One of the most exciting offers from Milk & Honey PR is their willingness to share expertise. Their team is open to helping charities raise their own profile by sharing stories through their communication channels.

As Petrina said, “We’re an award-winning global PR agency, so if a local charity needs help telling their story, that’s something we’d be delighted to support.”

A First for WCA

We’re thrilled that Milk & Honey PR is the first corporate organisation featured in our Doing Good in Wandsworth initiative. By showcasing their journey, we hope to inspire other businesses across the borough to follow suit and build meaningful partnerships with local charities.

This is just the beginning. With a new Clapham office opening soon, Milk & Honey PR is ready to get even more involved in the local community.

Get involved

If you’re a Wandsworth based charity looking for corporate support, whether that’s skilled volunteering, fundraising, or practical help, Milk & Honey PR would love to hear from you.

Contact Havana at havana@milkandhoneypr.com

And if your organisation is interested in connecting with local businesses for volunteering or support, don’t forget to register your opportunities on WCA’s volunteering platform and sign up to our quarterly doing good in Wandsworth newsletter here. Please email communications@wandcareall.org.uk to be featured in our next edition. If you’re a corporation who is supporting our local charities, please do reach out so we can share all the incredible work you are doing towards the local community.

Together, we can build stronger links between businesses and charities making Wandsworth a borough where everyone benefits and is supported.

Latest Updates

Community Voices in Wandsworth