We had a fantastic launch event for Project Malachi on the 29th. We were amazed by the response, both from the sponsoring committee and politicians and from the seventy people who came along to support the project and celebrate with us. We also had representatives from local media, who watched us take part in an interactive art project.  The image below shows our creation as we 'put our hands together' to create something, in the same way that we are doing for the hostel itself.  It was wonderful to be joined by both the currently Leader of the Council, Cllr Jas Athwal, and the previous leader, Cllr Keith Prince, who is now the Assembly Member for Redbridge and Havering.

Both politicians spoke about the work they have done and paid testimony to what each other has done to move this project forward.  In addition, members of the sponsoring committee spoke and shared their motivations for being involved with the project.  We will be featuring contributions from them on this page in the coming weeks so you can hear more from them directly!  

We're also delighted with the response that we've had from the public.  We have been going to meet people door to door and share about the ethos and purpose of the project.  This has been a great experience to see the project presenting an opportunity for us to build community.  While we know that there is still plenty of work to do for Project Malachi to come to full reality, we are seeing new developments happening on a daily basis.  The demolition of the funeral directors continues, scheduled for completion early in September.

The highlight of the launch and celebration, however, was being able to hear from Malachi himself, the boy who wrote the letter and gave the first £5 that helped get this thing started.  The vision, compassion and sacrifice of a child has helped a community come together to support the most vulnerable.  

Maybe you could help too?  

Your support is essential so please consider signing up using the link below so that you can learn more about how you can participate!

www.popuphostel.org

 Photography by Paul Samuels www.pjsfilms.net