Darwen Community Helpers

🎄🎁 Christmas Shoebox Appeal Reminder 🎁🎄

We’ve had a few people asking what we usually put into our Christmas shoeboxes, so we thought we’d pop a little reminder on here. ❤️

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone in our community who is getting involved and making shoeboxes for us this year. It really does mean a lot!

We do separate male and female boxes, and some of the things we usually include are:

🧦 Socks
🧤 Gloves
🧣 Scarves
🧢 Hats
🪥 Toothbrushes & toothpaste
🧼 Soap
🧴 Shampoo & shower gel
🪮 Combs & hairbrushes
🧴 Deodorant and other toiletries
🩷 Sanitary products in our female boxes
🍫 Sweets, chocolates and little treats

You’re also more than welcome to add other small, useful items that you think somebody would appreciate receiving. ❤️

One important thing to remember: please don’t include alcohol or any products containing alcohol. This includes things such as hand sanitiser, so please check the ingredients where possible.

Thank you so much to everyone who is helping us with the appeal this year. We’re incredibly grateful to have a community that gets behind us time and time again. 🎄🎁❤️

❤️ A little thank you!

We just wanted to say a big thank you to the lovely lady who brought a gentleman’s wallet down to our Community Hub today after it was found earlier up at Darwen Tower.

I personally drove over to the gentleman’s home this afternoon to return it to him, and he is incredibly grateful to have it safely back in his hands. ❤️

It’s little acts of kindness and honesty like this that remind us what a wonderful community we have.

Thank you so much for taking the time to bring it down to us. 🥰

🎃 A big thank you to PCSO Mark Dixon! 👻

A huge thank you to PCSO Mark Dixon for popping down to DCH and bringing us some Trick or Treat safety posters to share with our community ahead of Halloween. 🎃🍬

If anybody would like one, you’re more than welcome to pop into our Community Hub on Bridge Street and collect one from us.

A simple little poster can help let trick or treaters know whether a household is happy to receive visitors this Halloween. ❤️

Thank you again, Mark, for your continued support of DCH and for everything you do within our community. It is always very much appreciated.

🦆✨ GLOW IN THE DUCK! ✨🦆

We are so excited to be supporting this absolutely amazing FREE event from Darwen Ducks, in association with Sunnyhurst! 💛

📅 Friday 30th October
⏰ 4:30pm – 7:30pm
📍 Lower Sunnyhurst Woods

There’s also a part of this event that means a great deal to me personally. 💛

As part of the event, there will be a special installation dedicated to raising awareness around su***de. I’ll be volunteering within this area, helping to raise awareness, handing out affirmation badges and supporting a message that is incredibly close to my heart.

Darwen Ducks have also very kindly chosen Darwen Community Helpers CIC for their collection at the event. 🥹❤️ We are genuinely so grateful to the whole Darwen Ducks team for thinking of us and choosing to support the work we do within our community. It really does mean so much to us.

🦆 MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED!

If you can spare a few hours and would love to get involved in what is going to be a brilliant community event, please consider volunteering. Every extra pair of hands will help make the evening even more special.

I honestly cannot wait for this one. A night filled with light, community and fun, while also shining a light on something that matters so deeply. 💛✨

Please share and help us spread the word! 🦆🌟

🧸❤️ FREE TEDDIES! ❤️🧸

We have loads and loads of teddies that we’re giving away completely FREE!

Some of them may need a little wash and freshen up, but there are plenty looking for a new home and someone to love them. 🥰

Perfect for little ones, nurseries, playgroups or anyone who can give them a new home.

Pop down and have a look. No charge at all, just take what you can make use of. 🧸❤️

Please share so we can find them all new homes! 🙏

🎄 YORK TRIP UPDATE 🎄

Wow! When we first advertised our York trip, it sold out incredibly quickly. We then managed to upgrade to a bigger coach… and that sold out too! ❤️

Because we’ve had so much interest, I’m now looking into whether we can increase the coach again to an 85-seater.

If an 85-seater isn’t available, there may be another option of putting on a second 49-seater coach.

However, I would only be able to book a second coach if we had enough people to fill it. I really want to keep the cost of the trip as low and affordable as possible, and booking another coach without enough passengers would mean having to increase the price per person, which I don’t want to do.

⚠️ At this stage, a second coach is NOT guaranteed. I’m simply trying to get an idea of how much genuine interest there would be if we can make it happen.

So, if you missed out on a place and would definitely like to come to York if more spaces become available, please comment below or message us with how many seats you would need.

Please only put your name down if you are genuinely interested, as this will help me work out whether a second coach could be viable.

Thank you so much for the amazing response to this trip! 🚌🎄❤️

🌞 Good morning everyone! 🌞

Calling all book lovers! 📚❤️

We’ve got TONS of books available at our Furniture & Home Store, and they’re an absolute bargain at:

📚 3 BOOKS FOR JUST £1! 📚

There’s plenty to choose from, so come down, have a good rummage and stock up on some new reads.

Every penny raised helps support Darwen Community Helpers CIC and the work we do within our community. ❤️

Pop in and grab yourself a bargain!

Please share and help us spread the word. 📖✨

☀️ GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! ☀️

We’re back! 💛

After a lovely break away, we’re feeling rested, recharged and very happy to be back at DCH. Our doors are OPEN TODAY and we’re looking forward to seeing you all again.

Just a little reminder that we still have a number of items waiting to be collected. If you have something to pick up from us, please could you arrange to collect it as soon as possible, as we really need to get things cleared and organised.

🚌 BLACKPOOL TRIP
Payment for the Blackpool trip is now required, so if you have booked places with us, please arrange to get your payment in.

💙 Age UK is on today from 1pm–3pm, so pop along for a brew, a chat and some friendly company.

Have a lovely Monday everyone. It’s good to be back! 💛

☀️ Good morning everyone! ☀️

Just a little reminder that DCH will be back open on Monday! ❤️

I’ve had an amazing few days away, and it was definitely the rest and reset I needed. I’m feeling rested, recharged and ready to get back to it! 🥰

We’ve got lots coming up over the next few months, so I’m looking forward to getting back, seeing everyone and getting stuck in again. 💪❤️

Also, a little reminder for anyone joining us on our Blackpool trip 🎡🎢 — payments are now starting to be needed, so please make sure you start getting those in.

Have a lovely Friday everyone, and we’ll see you all on Monday! ❤️

🏢 AFFORDABLE ROOMS TO RENT – DARWEN TOWN CENTRE

Are you self-employed, starting a small business, or looking for an affordable space to work from?

We currently have 2 private rooms available to rent from just £200 per month within our Bridge Street premises in Darwen.

These could be ideal for:

✨ Counsellors or therapists
✨ Beauty or wellbeing professionals
✨ Small businesses
✨ Office/admin space
✨ Tutors
✨ Charities or CICs
✨ Creatives
✨ Anyone looking for their own affordable workspace

We also have a larger studio space available, which could be suitable for classes, workshops, training, meetings or another small business.

We’re particularly interested in bringing people into the building who would like to become part of a friendly, community-focused environment.

📍 Bridge Street, Darwen
💷 Small rooms from £200 PCM
🔑 Longer-term arrangements welcomed

If you’re interested, please message the DCH page with a little bit about what you do and which type of space you’re looking for.

Please feel free to share — the right little space might be exactly what somebody is looking for. ❤️

Please note, the photos show how the rooms have previously been used by former tenants and are for illustration purposes. The rooms are currently vacant.