LOCAL HEROES: North Kingston’s BRaG

Many neighbourhood groups sprang into action in response to the crisis. North Kingston’s BRaG has done an incedible job, and have been justly nominated for our local heroes awards.

North Kingston’s residents group BRaG has done an incredible job of connecting the community via hyperlocal WhatsApp groups, enabling neighbours to respond quickly to other residents’ needs and concerns. Volunteers have been involved with everything from a daily walk along the street to simply wave at other neighbours during the lockdown, a small gesture that made a big difference in helping people to feel less isolated, to virtual fundraising quiz nights and finding supplies for the local Sewing Angels to make masks. “

At the very start of the crisis our committee was united in agreement that we should use BRaG’s resources to help our community,” says Glen Keywood, BRaG chair. “We quickly set up WhatsApp groups to enable fast local street assessments of vulnerable people and create rapid communications channels. The swift take up and engagement through this channel was incredible and amazing to observe. The groups remain now and will hopefully form a lasting legacy of this time and help us to maintain a close community throughout the whole of North Kingston.”

“Our events moved online, luckily our residents and committee members are keen to get involved and engage. We are also fortunate to have some great comms people and an amazing local quizmaster. A real highlight for us has to be some of the Friday night quizzes, prizes donated by our local heroes (shops that have really stepped up for us all) and participants that are not only smart but very generous.”

“Finally our fundraising has been the biggest surprise. BRaG supports three charities a year as voted by our residents – this year we are supporting KCAH, Kingston Foodbank and St Lukes Church. All three charities are in dire need of funds this year and we couldn’t have asked for a better response from our residents, they dug deep when it mattered and we have so far raised over £9k. This wouldn’t have been possible without the Sewing Angels. They very kindly diverted their face covering production to charity sales when the NHS demand dropped, and the mask sale produced over £5k of our fundraising.”

Vote for BRaG here.