[title]
There's nothing like starting the clean slate of a New Year by helping out a worthy cause. And let's be real – it feels good too. Check out these four London-based projects that offer a lovely way to give back:
Good Gym
This crew of do-gooders run around town (literally) to help communities with whatever they need, whether its garden clearance or building flat-pack furniture. It's free to join too and you don't need to be super-fit to get involved.
Heeling Soles
Heeling Soles
Heeling Soles is a project created by blogger and sneaker fiend Chris Chang who wanted to give away spare kicks to the homeless in London, the US, Africa and the Caribbean. He's now set up a collection bank at Steel Junction Tattoo shop in Clapham where you can drop in at any time to donate your old trainers.
Centrepoint mentoring scheme
The Centrepoint mentoring scheme
If you've got knowledge or skills to share, Centrepoint take on mentors for the young homeless people they support to get back into education or work. You'll just need to be free enough to commit to the scheme for a year.
John Lewis
Volunteering with AgeUK
The latest John Lewis ad touched on the issue of the elderly suffering from loneliness, but it's not just a problem at Christmas. To tackle this, AgeUK offers run programmes – like befriending – so you can volunteer with the charity all year round.
Here are a few more ways to give back to London.