Ormsgill warm hub and community fridge

Who are we?

We are a group of community volunteers based in Ormsgill, Barrow In Furness. We initially set up to provide activities for families throughout the year, We have been doing this for two years now. We were provided with an opportunity to open a community fridge which has become a vital service to our community. Due to the cost of living crisis we then also set up a warm hub twice a week which has also been popular. 

Community impact

Our services help those families who have been impacted by the cost of living crisis. It also helps to reduce food waste which some of our residents are passionate about. The warm hub gives residents the opportunity to spend time in a warm environment, and receive free food, drink and company. We can also facilitate support with the cost of energy bills to those identified as 'in need'. 

Since the pandemic, we have found that many residents have been affected in many different ways. Our services are aimed to help people who may be struggling socially, financially, or are vulnerable in any way. We are based in the Ormsgill community however we welcome anyone through our doors without judgement.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Ormsgill experiences above national levels of income and employment deprivation and is one of the top 10% most deprived LSOAs nationally using this indicator (the former Department for Communities and Local Government, 2015). The area is also the most deprived in terms of employment deprivation in the Barrow-in-Furness area. 

We anticipate that the services we offer will be vital to this community and surrounding areas for a long time to come. We have created a community hub that people are using frequently. We intend to continue with our services for as long as possible. Money raised would be used to continue the warm hub, provide free food for families and a warm and inviting space. We would love to develop the services we are already provide so that residents feel they have somewhere and someone they can approach in times of need.

How we’ll spend the money raised

Any money raised would help to continue our warm hub. This would help provide a wider variety of foods for residents for a longer period of time. We would love to upgrade the facilities we have in order to make our services more efficient for example a larger toaster would mean we could feed more people at a faster pace. An upgraded cooker would mean that more hot meals can be served. 

Our community fridge relies on volunteers collecting and delivering surplus foods, additional funds would help with the cost of fuel. We collect surplus foods from different supermarkets and stores that have supported this project since it started. We receive fantastic support, however sometimes we do need to purchase additional foods that we know residents are in need of. Additional money would mean that we could continue to do this and support residents when they are in need of something specific. 

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