27th April 2009 for event on Thursday 30th April
MP Sees Barclays’ Volunteers Paint The Town Orange
Local MP Jim Fitzpatrick will this week visit City Gateway’s Limehouse Youth Centre in Tower Hamlets. 18 volunteers from Barclays Commercial Bank will be taking over the centre for the day in a decoration project which sees them brightening up the reception areas, opening up a new studio space and clearing up an outside area.

The youth centre, which City Gateway runs in partnership with Poplar HARCA will receive a youthful new look with bright orange, purple, blue and green to match the colours of City Gateway’s four stage progression model.

City Gateway is a charity dedicated to bringing hope to the local communities of Tower Hamlets that haven't benefitted from the area’s wider economic development. They look to connect with local women and disadvantaged young people, and run programmes which engage them, train them and provide them with the skills and opportunities they need to enter work.
The charity runs women’s projects, youth training, a youth centre and a social enterprise hub - offering disadvantaged individuals everything from community events and drop-in youth clubs through to apprenticeship schemes and the chance to develop their own business ideas.
The organisation was set up by a group of City workers keen to support the community around them and now has partnerships with over 20 City firms. Last Summer a team from Barclays Wealth organised a football tournament at the youth club featuring teams from their staff, a local school and from the centre itself.
Volunteering is at the heart of Barclays Community investment programme and in 2008 over 37,000 staff members volunteered in their local communities around the world.
The team from Barclays Commercial bank is based in the Company’s headquarters in canary Wharf. The team is being led by Dan Roberts - Global Head of Debt Products who said: “Barclays has a tradition of supporting the community where we operate and we have been very impressed with what this charity has achieved. I hope that the work that we do today will make a real difference to everyone who uses the centre.”

Jim Fitzpatrick MP will get the chance not only to see the corporate volunteering first hand but also to see some of the sports based training programmes running at the centre. The charity recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a celebration at the East Wintergarden and the launch of a new collaborative ’10 Year Blog’ project.

Eddie Stride, CEO at City Gateway commented: “The centre is where we connect with many of the young people for the first time and its vital that it comes across both as professional and approachable. Our approach is to always encourage progression, getting young people to volunteer at the centre and eventually progress onto our training courses and apprenticeships. We’ve built partnerships with firms, like Barclays, over the years and much of our work would be impossible without them.

The Barclays painting day takes place all day on Thursday 30th April at Limehouse Youth Centre, Limehouse Causeway, E14 8BN. Jim Fitzpatrick will be visiting the centre from around 11:30am, any journalists wishing to attend should contact Jerry Daykin (jerry@citygateway.org.uk) in advance.

-ENDS-

jerry@citygateway.org.uk
07905 608 721
www.citygateway.org.uk
www.citygateway.org.uk/news/blog