WORKERS and volunteers from grass roots charities all over the BCP area came together yesterday to celebrate the impact of a grant programme that has helped thousands of people cope with the cost of living crisis.
More than 100 people from dozens of groups were at the Henry Brown Centre in Bournemouth for the Stories of Change event, which showcased the hard work of charities and voluntary groups through beneficiaries’ tales of the difference the support they received has made to them.
The BCP Food & Energy Support Fund, run in partnership by BCP Council and Dorset Community Foundation, has awarded more than 300 grants, totalling over £1.7m over the last five years to 78 different groups.
The grants, using money from the government’s Household Support Fund, has supported a huge range of cost of living initiatives, from access to food through free or low-cost meals, vouchers, cooking equipment and skills training, to help with other essentials such as clothing, hygiene and cleaning products, as well as money and employment advice and warm hubs.
By the end of the most recent grant period, more than 180,000 people in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have been helped over the five years of the programme. The council will continue supporting the work through the government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund, which will replace the Household Support Fund from April 1.
Dorset Community Foundation Grants Manager Ellie Maguire told the audience: “As with all of our funding programmes, it’s about grass roots groups that live and breathe the communities they’re serving.
“Most of the groups that we’re supporting are very much volunteer led and led by people with lived experience of the issues in that community, and that’s what I love about making grants to small grass roots organisations because the people are giving the money to just really get it – and that’s what’s such a joy.”
Most of the groups that we’re supporting are very much volunteer led and led by people with lived experience of the issues in that community, and that’s what I love about making grants to small grass roots organisations because the people are giving the money to just really get it – and that’s what’s such a joy
Erika Sloper, Chief Executive of Poole Waste Not Want Not, told the audience the grant support from the fund has helped the charity meet the increased need in its area through its supermarket, community café and cookery workshops.
“We have grown in more ways than I ever imagined,” she said. “Five years ago we supported 280 households but today the number has risen to 688 households – showing both the growing need and the trust the community has in us.
“Today we see queues at our doors every morning and that says it all. Families are supported not only in crisis but through the moments that really matter most.”
Jessie Agunbiade from Overcomers Outreach in Bournemouth told how the group provides youth work, a foodbank and homeless support thanks in part to the fund. “Everything we do is driven by one simple belief; that everyone deserves support, opportunity and hope – and that includes our volunteers, who have also received training in things such as food safety and Level 2 Youth Work,” she said.
“Through these efforts, we’re not just meeting needs, we’re restoring dignity, building future and strengthening our community.”
Cara Saunders, a volunteer from Winton and Parkstone Community Pantry, said a £5,000 grant from the fund allowed it to help more people. “The grant made a massive difference to us, before we had it all our fridges were breaking down,” she said. “We do loads of collections from supermarkets so we needed somewhere to store the chilled food and we were able to buy new ones, which was amazing.
“It meant that we could do more collections and we could store more food and we could give it out to more people and now every session we have about 50 to 60 families coming.”
Julie Deller, Charity Manager at West Howe Community Enterprises, which runs lunches, events and support from the Henry Brown Centre, enjoyed the event. “I’m thrilled about how many people are in here and to feel the centre buzzing and just hearing so many fantastic stories, it just makes you realise that you’re not working in isolation,” she said.
“Sometimes it feels that way and this just reinforces that there is so much good out there and we’re all working to help similar causes and there’s strength in that partnership working.”
BCP Council leader Millie Earle praised the work of the voluntary sector, telling the audience: “Our communities are really struggling at the moment, we hear about it every day and no one more than those who are working on the front line, directly speaking to people and helping them with food parcels, community meals, food vouchers or just offering advice and support to people who need it most.
“I just want to say a massive thank you for everything else that goes around these roles that you do. The resilience that you have shown, the amount of effort you put in, the amount you take home with you in the evening because of seeing what you see every day and listening to some of those stories.”
