Broxtowe Community Projects - Keeping people fed

Aim

Raise £16,000 to stock the foodbank over Winter & support the increasing number of children & adults living in food poverty & hunger locally

Broxtowe Community Projects (BCP) believes that no one should go hungry because of unemployment, illness, poverty or adverse life events. We believe that people should always have access to food and the dignity of choice about what they eat. People who are unable to afford to eat, or feed themselves as well as their children, live stressful hidden lives. We care passionately about our community which is why over 100 local people volunteer to help us every month to collect on-date/surplus food from supermarkets and local shops, and charities like FareShare, and redistribute it locally to ensure no one goes hungry.

We are aiming to raise £16,000 which will be used to keep the foodbank running and helping vulnerable people. Please make a special effort this Winter to help people who are struggling locally to have the most basic necessity of life – food. 

With your donations we will:

• Keep our shelves stocked this Winter with basic essentials to help the increasing number of people who are asking for help because of rising utility bills, unemployment, low wage insecure jobs and elderly people on poor pensions. 
• Deliver a family cooking project to enable families to learn how to make healthy and nutritious meals on a small budget and meet other people facing the same challenges, make friends, help and support each other.  
• We are trying to set up a warm bank scheme in partnership with local businesses and FareShare which will initially run in the mornings.
• We are launching a Christmas project to ensure primary school age children locally will receive a small token gift. We are working with local business partners and supermarkets to achieve this but we still need to source food for Christmas dinner for their families.
• This extra work is having a direct impact on our charity running costs. Currently we are spending an extra £1,000 per month, supporting more children, families and pensioners who are experiencing hardship and food poverty. We are doing all we can as a small charity to raise additional funds and would be very grateful if you could donate to this crowdfunding appeal as it is doubled through match-funding on this website by a brilliant sponsor.    
• We need to find and fund affordable larger premises locally so we have space to help many more people as our current premises are small and our amazing volunteers pack food bags in very cramped spaces. If you can help us with local premises in Broxtowe that you no longer use, please contact us.    

Who are we?

Broxtowe Community Projects is a registered charity that serves our community and helps ensure no one goes hungry while 'unwanted and in date' food is being thrown away locally. 

We run a self-referral foodbank and nappies bank that delivers food bags to local people who are hungry and struggling with food poverty. And we support our registered foodbank members to tackle the underlying causes of their situation e.g. relationship breakdown, evicted from where they were living, to access expert advice and support by working in partnership with other local services e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau, debt management charities, bereavement or loneliness support.

Broxtowe Community Projects is a foodbank with a difference:

• Our charity is self-referral which means people can come to us direct without the need for a referral. However, we work with many local charities and community groups and they can refer people to us if they want. 
• Our food bags are different because we think it’s important that people eat a balanced healthy diet so we include fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, chilled and frozen foods, meat or meat alternatives depending on whatever is available each week. Giving grocery basics to people ensures they have the dignity and opportunity to prepare a home cooked meal themselves, and not have to rely on meals prepared by others. 
• We deliver our food bags to people can’t afford to use public transport or find it difficult to walk to the foodbank and get bags of shopping home safely. Our members register with us, and their feedback suggests that families with young children and prams, disabilities, physical or mental health conditions and elderly people find it particularly difficult to collect and carry food bags home. By offering collection and delivery options we can ensure equal access to support for all those facing food poverty. 
• We are willing to help towards formula milk for babies: we provide 1 tub per week for each baby under age 12 months on our list, together with one pack of nappies and a limited range of some other baby items on request.

Thank you very much for reading about our project. 

Remember anything you can contribute will be matched by the sponsorship scheme and doubled in value. We really appreciate your support for local people who are struggling to feed themselves right now in our community. If you are able to, please make a special effort in this cold weather to help them. 

This project successfully funded on 17th December 2021