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QSA contribute to debate on values

Director Judith Moran was recently asked to contribute to a report by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) on how third sector organisations relate their values to the work that they do. The report, entitled "Values into action: how organisations translate their values into practise", looked at the importance for charities of stating their beliefs and reflecting on what their values are. Quaker Social Action was chosen as a case study organisation that has spent time considering this issue. Our values are very important to us and we were pleased to take part in this thought-provoking debate.

Homestore highly commended

We were delighted when Homestore were announced runner-up in the Archant London Environmental Awards on November 20th. Homestore were the only project named "Highly Commended" in the category of 'Best Recycling Project'. Irmina and Anna went to collect the award and enjoyed mingling with environmental projects, schools and businesses from across London.

Tea with Terry Waite

Staff, trustees, volunteers, supporters and friends of QSA gathered together on 15th October to celebrate our move to the new premises. We were very pleased to welcome Terry Waite, humanitarian, hostage negotiator and recent Quaker, who spoke movingly Terry Waite and Judith Moran

of the difficulties which face those caught in the traps of social and financial exclusion. "I commend Quaker Social Action for the integrated work that they do, which is now made more possible by being under one roof", said Terry. "You could not support a more creative and better project."

We've moved!

New Building

After much moving around of boxes and plugging in of wires, we've finally settled into our new building. Made of Money, Street Cred STEP, Homelink and Knees Up are now sharing a space with our finance, fundraising, quality and engagement and communications teams. The building, which is rented from St Margaret's House Settlement, is a beautiful space and allows us to share resources and ideas more efficiently.

Our new address is

17 Old Ford Road

Bethnal Green

London E2 9PJ

and our new telephone number is 020 8983 5030.

Street Cred celebrates

Street Cred marks 10 years

Our Street Cred project last week celebrated 10 years of providing business support and microcredit loans to women wanting to start their own businesses. The event was a time of celebration for so many women who have been supported to find employment opportunities through Street Cred, as well as marking a new era for the project. In the next three months Street Cred will be piloting a new emphasis, focused around offering accredited training modules for the women it works with.

QSA go jogging for the Homestore challenge

QSA staff and employees have so far raised £1,057 for the Homestore project by volunteering to take part in the London peace run. There will be 7 QSA runners puffing their way to the finish line on September 26th, hoping to raise £5,000 for the Homestore 2020 challenge. To donate funds to the team click here.

Local politicians and community organisations gather to celebrate 20 years of Homestore

August 20th was a special day for our Homestore project. To celebrate 20 years of existence we held a celebration for volunteers, service-users, staff, community partners and local politicians. We started Homestore out of a belief that people should have access to good-quality furniture regardless of how much money they have. 20 years on we run a bustling warehouse with the help of over 50 volunteers who help us to reach over 1,600 households living on a low income every year. Along the way we help to divert hundreds of tonnes of furniture from landfill- last year we saved the equivalent of 15 London buses! In its 20th year Homestore is now busy in a campiagn to raise £20,000. To read about 20 years of Homestore download our celebratory booklet, or to help our 2020 campaign click here.

Homestore launches 2020 challenge- we need your help!

To celebrate 20 years of our furniture reuse project we are asking supporters to help us raise £20,000! Why not download some fundraising ideas and get involved?

QSA Summer Newsletter goes to print

QSA has been busy in the last few months. Find out the latest news about our projects and the work we do in east London by reading our Summer Newsletter.

"No progress on child poverty"

Government figures released on the 7th May reveal that Labour's initial gains on child poverty have been eroded. Their initial target was to halve child poverty by 2010 and to 'eradicate' child poverty by 2020. Sadly, inequality is higher today in Britain than at any time since the 1970s, and there are still 2.9 million children living in relative poverty before housing costs.

To read more, go to this report .

New website goes live!

As you can see, our new website has finally been finished. We are still working on parts of it and would love to hear your feedback, ideas, or stories about life in east London. If you have any photos of this exciting part of the world, we'd love to see them too. Our contact form is at the bottom of this page.

Made of Money evaluation report published

Barbara Carlisle of Sharp Evaluation Services was commissioned to examine the efficacy of Made of Money, our financial literacy project. Her findings were published at a lunchtime event, attended by funders, part ner organisations, and the staff from Made of Money. They were encouraged by the conclusion of the r ep ort, which stated that "there is firm evidence that Made of Money is very successful at meeting its aims of enabling families to have more open communication about money and empowering parents to feel more in control of their finances... Made of Money alone cannot lead people out of poverty, but it can help people manage better with what they have."

Made of Money Evaluation Launch