Memset community fund

Last week, as part of my work for Memset, I found myself climbing a steep and windy hill on the outskirts of a small town called Godalming in the Surrey countryside. What made it slightly strange was that I was surrounded by decades old graves and heading for an old chapel.

I was there with a small team from Memset to visit a charity called Skillway, which aims to provide practical skills to children aged 14 – 16 who are struggling in mainstream education. The children spend a day a week at the centre learning manual skills such as woodwork, stonework, basic engineering and metalwork from volunteer craftsmen and women. The charity has had immense success in re-engaging the children with education and providing them with practical skills which can lead on to a career.

The Memset Community Fund donates £6000 to local charities around Guildford every year, through the Community Foundation for Surrey, and in June we gave Skillway a grant of £2000 for volunteer costs and workshop materials. Their unusual location aside, it was lovely to spend the morning meeting the volunteers and children and seeing our grant in action.