RBKares supports those in need across the borough by galvanising the community to respond to their needs
RBKares is a group of volunteers that aims to mobilise the community to respond at pace to needs that arise within the borough of Kingston amongst hospital workers, carers, refugees, care homes residents and other vulnerable groups.
We keep our ears to the ground about people in need, key workers needing a morale boost or groups to whom we can lend our creative skills and volunteering efforts. We put out calls for help on WhatsApp and Facebook to get the community to join forces and offer support.
Having supplied hospitals, care homes and key workers with scrubs, face-coverings and scrub-bags throughout the pandemic via Sewing4Kingson, we developed a strong relationship with the care homes and saw the extreme conditions they were working in. We wanted to thank them so we set up RBKares to deliver some Christmas kindness.
After Christmas we turned our attention back to Kingston Hospital where the staff were struggling under the huge pressure of the second wave. As we became known within the local community we got involved in many more projects, from artwork for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to sorting through donations for refugees, from running workshops to bring RBKares volunteers together to make fidget mats and craft, to delivering hundreds of ‘Kindness Kits’ to those needing support or deserving some appreciation.
In January 2022 RBKares became a registered charity 1197621. The charity responds to the changing needs of the community. RBKares has a two-fold purpose: recipients benefit from knowing that their community cares for them, and volunteers develop positive feelings from being able to help. RBKares continues to be involved in many community projects and uses WhatsApp and social media to tell members about new initiatives.
If you would like to join us, please see our Current Projects page or How you can support us. If you’d like to donate to support our work, please click the button below. You can also contact us at info@rbkares.org.