Vennture

SOCIAL INVESTMENT: BRIDGING THE GAP

Vennture is a charity in Hereford, originally founded as Hereford City Mission in 1856, that equips volunteers to support people facing challenges or crisis, whether they are out on the streets of Hereford or in their own homes.  In 2012 Hereford City Mission relaunched as Vennture to address the impact of the ebbing tide of public funding on local people.

In 2017 CAF Venturesome provided a £50,000 standby facility that gave Vennture the working capital it needed to deliver contracts while waiting for delayed local authority funding.   This also gave Vennture the opportunity to plan the growth of their activities in the area.  

SUPPORT TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE

The charity runs four programmes that make a huge difference to the people of Hereford:

Street Pastors - Teams of trained church volunteers work in Hereford on busy weekend nights, keeping people safe on the street, especially when they’re vulnerable.

Lean on Me - Rigorously trained volunteers care for the injured or impaired in Hereford’s night time economy.  Accurately assessing, supervising recovery and reuniting with friends and family.

Ambassadors - Ambassador teams volunteer in Hereford to keep people safe, support the vulnerable and provide first aid.  Their mission is to make Hereford an even better place to shop, visit and work. They want to be a friendly, helpful, reassuring and welcoming presence.

Family Pastors - Family Pastors are trained volunteers who can work with the family by listening to them in a non-judgemental way and helping them gain the support they need to make changes, find solutions to their challenges and bring new hope into their lives.

SOCIAL IMPACT REAPS AWARDS

Today Vennture help 1 in 4 of Hereford’s young people in the night time economy; they have supported 120 struggling families and similar numbers of individuals including the homeless. In just 5 years Vennture have trained over 150 people to come alongside people in challenging circumstances.

Vennture’s innovative, relational approach has won national and international recognition. In 2018 Vennture received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and their student volunteers won The National Crime Beat Award.  They have even had a Swedish group visit their family work.