Skills gathered from the community are part of a goodwill chain pouring into a new charity scheme that is ready to help residents below the poverty line.

Chessington Councillor Shiraz Mirza has set aside £10,000 to get Kingston Matters off to a healthy start.

The scheme, which is now ready and waiting to be used, wants to help with plumbing, home DIY, school uniform purchasing and other day-to-day essentials people may struggle to fund.

Chessington World of Adventures has also offered up its stock of carpenters, electricians and plumbers, and Kingston College students are set to use the skills they are learning to help Kingston Matters give away free solutions.

Nicola Henderson, strategic developments director at Chessington World of Adventures, said: “We were delighted to be invited to support Councillor Mirza’s Kingston Matters community project and look forward to finding out more about the ways in which we can support this cause moving forward.”

Coun Mirza said: “It’s all to do with the community. “There is some good community spirit building here. These are small gestures, but they cannot be small for those that don’t have something.

“I just feel that I want to be that link between those who cannot afford it and those that can give.”

He said although funding cuts at both local and national level had proven difficult over the years, he hoped the charitable cause would be able to provide some “damage limitation”.

Kingston and Surbiton MP James Berry said: “I’m massively supportive of Kingston Matters.

“As he did with the community halls in Norbiton and New Malden, Shiraz Mirza has drawn in philanthropists from across the business and voluntary communities in Kingston to put this together for the benefit of our local community.

“I look forward to following its success.”

Halls built to provide a space for the community to use have been going strong for years.

The Shiraz Mirza Trust, set up by Chessington South Councillor Shiraz Mirza, established a Norbiton community hall 12 years ago, and a New Malden hall six years ago.

They celebrated their anniversaries last month and have been thriving for years with community groups enjoying the space since the beginning.

The Norbiton hall was opened by then-London mayor Ken Livingstone.

Coun Mirza said: “They can host whatever the community wants. As long as it’s legal – we’ll host it in our two community halls.

“We are now looking to the council to extend our lease in the long term so that we can then really re-invest the money for the long term because the halls are used on a daily basis.

“I am proud of what the halls have done for the community.”

He added the halls were used for dancing, community events, charitable meetings and language lessons among other uses.

Kingston Council leader Kevin Davis said: “This is just the sort of scheme that the council of the future will be wishing to support – community-based action providing a service for local residents. I wish it well for the future.”

Kingston Matters will be working with other Kingston charities, such as Refugee Action and Kingston Churches Action Against Homelessness to identify people in need.

To find out more about Kingston Matters, use the service or donate, call 07957 252494 or email shiraz.mirza@kingston.gov.uk.

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