LYT Newsletter January 2026

Dear Team LYT -

Happy 2026!  We hope the start of the year has been as exciting for you as it has been for us.  We have so much to share - an award! Over 41k in donations given! A new partner! And more.. shall we jump right in?

OVER 41K IN DONATIONS PRESENTED TO OUR PARTNERS

To end the second half of our year, we wind down our time with Transformation through Education, our partners in Zambia.  Thanks to the unwavering support of our donor community, we are excited to share news of a donation of £22,000 to TTE!  This funding allows the project to move to the next level, expanding support for children at PIZZ School and advancing its mission to guide students from education all the way through to employment, helping their families escape poverty.

 We’re excited to help set their future growth in motion and can’t wait to hear how things progress over the coming months. 

In addition to this donation to our 6 month partner, we're fortunate to have the ability to support an additional 5 Community Development Donations (CDDs) - 

Please take the time to click the links and read about these incredible projects around the world that you're helping to support - we are deeply inspired by their vast and beautiful work.

 

MEET OUR NEW PARTNER:  THE HOLYOKE FOOD & EQUITY COLLECTIVE -

HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA

The Holyoke Food and Equity Collective is an antiracist community organisation working to create better access to healthy food in the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts by building food sovereignty. Through diverse and adaptive mutual aid projects, the collective’s goal is to generate health, racial, and economic equity in their community. 

Led by four co-directors and more than 100 volunteers, they maximize limited resources to deliver measurable impact.  Its projects include:

  • Diaper Distribution: A twice-monthly distribution of diapers to over 100 families in South Holyoke for a total of over 30,000 diapers, a significant resource for local families.

  • Garden Beds and Bucket Planters: Providing free garden beds and bucket planters to Holyoke residents to encourage home growing and self-reliance.  Over 100 planters and beds given in 2024 to over 50 families.

  • Seedling CSA Share: An affordable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share of seedlings that can be purchased with SNAP and HIP benefits, featuring culturally relevant plants like those for sofrito.

  • Community Compost Hubs: Free community food scrap composting that turns waste into soil for use in local gardens, including the Dwight Street Garden.  This hub is a pilot and hopefully the first of several strategically placed compost hubs around the city. It is a solidly built 3- bin system, which anyone can bring food scraps to for free after a brief online training and signup. The hub already has diverted more than 350 lbs. of food scraps from the landfill.

  • Collective Dinners: Quarterly or seasonal sliding-scale dinners (starting from $0) featuring chef Neftali Duran, with themes, speakers, and activities in both English and Spanish to foster community connection and discuss food sovereignty.  Attended by over 100 people.

  • Gleaning and Food Rescue: Harvesting (gleaning) surplus food from local farms to donate to Holyoke food pantries. Over 100,000 pounds of food have been rescued since 2020.

  • Growing Food to Donate: In partnership with Western MA SURJ, the collective also grows food to donate to local organizations like Kate's Kitchen.

  • HIP Advocacy: Advocacy and policy work to support and ensure continued funding for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), which provides extra money for fruits and vegetables to SNAP recipients.

  • Policy Work: Engaging in policy discussions and advocating for local ordinances that support community gardens and other methods of increasing food access.

We greatly admire their innovative approach and look forward to working together in the first half of 2026!

 

IN OTHER NEWS..
We're delighted to share that Let Yourself Trust is one of the 2025 winners of the SME Welsh Enterprise Awards - Music NPO of the Year (2025)!  SME News is a UK-based publication and brand that provides news, features, and insights for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Their awards are crafted to celebrate and showcase the success of these enterprises that are thriving across the United Kingdom, and we're honoured to be acknowledged by them.

Finally, in early December, Martyn was honoured to join longtime partners and friends Amos Trust and the Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society in a powerful night of music, dance, poetry, film and conversation that celebrated Palestinian culture and resilience. An evening at the Chapel Arts Centre in Cardiff, Martyn joined our dear friend Dr Abdelfattah Abusrour, Welsh poet and playwright and LYT Artist Ambassador Patrick Jones, as well as a group of young dabke dancers and musicians from Alrowwad, based in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem.  The event was part of the Amos Trust's "Beyond The Rubble: Steps of Hope" UK tour that occurred in November and December which aimed to celebrate Palestinian creativity and nonviolent resistance through arts and culture, while also raising funds to support Alrowwad's arts programmes in the West Bank and trauma care for children in Gaza.  A wonderful, powerful night for all who performed and attended, and one which Martyn and the LYT team truly enjoyed.

With hearts full of gratitude for the generous souls who walk this journey with us, and whose faith and kindness fuel this work,

 Justine, Martyn & the LYT Team

Justine Ferland