Brightside Local Heroes
Brightside launched it’s Local Heroes initiative at our first birthday party in February 2024 as a way of shining a light on those fantastic organisations working hard to support our local communities.
On this page you’ll find a little bit about our Brightside Local Heroes and links to their websites should you want to learn more about how you can get involved. We’ll be adding a new Local Hero each month, so keep an eye out for regular updates via social media and the Brightside newsletters.
St Cleer and Liskeard Youth Football Club
St Cleer and Liskeard Youth Football Club are a not-for-profit youth football club who have two star accreditation with the FA. They offer local children an affordable opportunity to take part in football activities all year round with weekly training and matches. They currently have over 150 children registered between the ages of 6 and 16, playing in 10 teams. The football club is solely run by volunteers and are lucky enough to have approximately 30 of them supporting them on a weekly basis. Most of their volunteers are busy people with families and full-time jobs, and they are giving up their valuable free-time to make sure these children have an opportunity to play.
The club also has a pathway for our players to move into adult football by partnering with Liskeard Athletic football. – the aim is for young players develop a lifelong love of the game, and keep playing into their adult lives to both stay fit and healthy and perhaps volunteer as coaches themselves one day.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.CleerandLiskeardYouthFc/
South West Blood Bikes
SWBB is a charity run entirely by volunteers and have no paid staff and make no charge for their services.
They provide a service within Devon using their own fleet and volunteers, but also provide a nationwide service by working in relay with other Blood Bike groups. Their aims are to save lives and improve patient outcomes, whilst at the same time saving the NHS and Hospices money which they can use instead of where it should be used – on patient care.
To date, their volunteers have been called out more than 5,032 times and moved over 26,906 individual items for these facilities – and in 2024 we expect to do even more – saving the NHS and Hospices in Devon well over £250,000
Shared Lives South West
Shared Lives South West are an award winning charity that delivers long term and short break care services throughout Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. They provide care and support as an alternative to supported living and residential care and are able to support people with achieving their goals, living as independently as possible and unlocking their potential.
Established in 2004, Shared Lives is a highly regarded care provider, rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission and have a very strong reputation in the Shared Lives sector for quality, innovation and person centred approaches.
Specialising in supporting people with learning disabilities, autism, mental ill health, dementia and older people, service users either live or have a break in the home of one of our approved carers – it’s similar to adult fostering and is a great alternative to supported living or residential care.
Shared Lives South West is an independent registered charity, with offices at Kingsteignton, Ilminster and Scorrier.
https://www.sharedlivessw.org.uk/
Saltash United Under 13 Flames
Saltash United Under 13 Flames are a football team made up of local girls from Saltash, Liskeard, Torpoint and Callington.
Since forming two years ago, the girls have gone from strength to strength and made lots of memories on and off the pitch. They play in the top girl’s division within the Devon and Junior Minor League, with their home games being played at Saltmill Park in Saltash. Having been runner’s up in their league for the past two seasons, the girls have been busy working hard in training to prepare for the new season where they hope to challenge for the league title.
As has been seen across the country, the growth in popularity of girls football locally has been huge over the last few years. These girls are an absolute credit to their club and pride themselves on their commitment to playing fairly and showing respect to opponents, referees, and each other. The friendships they have formed since starting as a team have been as rewarding as their performances on the pitch.
The team are part of the Saltash United Juniors who through volunteers provide football for over 300 local children, running 26 teams, ranging from age 5 – 18.
https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayTeam.html?id=36339322
SNUG
Meet Exeter based charity SNUG – Supporting Neonatal Users & Graduates.
SNUG was founded in 2011 by a group of individuals who all shared the same goal – to offer advocacy and wrap-around support to families who have been impacted upon by a difficult pregnancy, birth or neonatal stay.
Now SNUG helps thousands of new families in the South West to access the right support, in the right place at the right time, and has become an essential resource for the broader community.