Our FOOD Clubs provide discount food for parents but, to be honest, that’s just the start. I’m probably in a good position to talk about the service as a whole and how it helps families as I’m often the person who greets them at the door.
It’s a role I really enjoy as you get to know everyone that comes in after a while. The staff have been great and I feel valued as a person… and not just because I’m the tallest person here and can stack the top shelf!
I enjoy the whole experience as it’s nice to not be a mum for a while and I’m passionate about the customer greeting part of my role… It’s just nice that people will ask for me by name and confide in me. Sometimes parents come in and they don’t even want to use the FOOD Club.
They just come in completely broken, want to offload, and they know that I’m the first person they’ll see. I think that’s one of the areas where we go above and beyond. Because I’ve got five children, all of which have additional needs, I’ve had a LOT of experience accessing local services.
That means I can point the people who attend towards useful general services, but it also means that I can speak to them specifically about being a mother of children with additional needs. That can be comforting to them as it’s different when you hear about things from someone who’s going through it, as I’ve lived the life they’re living.
For example, people talk about their children needing to attend “team around the child” (TAC) or “team around the family” (TAF) meetings and they ask me what they are. They worry because they feel that they don’t know what it means and that all these people are going to be talking about them.
I explain that they’re not that scary and that they should want to be there as they unlock a lot of support.
Of course, sometimes people need practical support as well as emotional support and that’s when we can refer them to our grants, as well as services and charities that can help with reducing household heating costs or help with essential items like bedding and toasters. We also have a benefits advisor come in to help ensure they’re getting everything they should.
The majority of people we work with struggle in some form, and they say “we don’t know what we’d do without you being here”.
The majority of people we work with struggle in some form, and they say “we don’t know what we’d do without you being here”.
Supporting them with their worries is all part of being a community hub, and we try to promote that feeling of community through our food programmes. We have LifeSkills which is funded by Barclays and helps to provide training on things like budgeting or avoiding fraud while providing access to quality food.
Then there’s our Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which gives children the chance to attend the centre during school holidays, eat healthily and get the experience of food preparation, as well as play games and activities That’s something they REALLY enjoy, and the children who attend the FOOD club will ask if their name has been put down for it weeks in advance.
It’s great as the food preparation part can be educational, and lots of children have told me that they’ve tried ingredients and cuisines they’ve never had before.
We also help educate children through the local school Greenwood Academy, which helps with funding and will bring children in to learn about what we do here and help to stack the shelves.
The FOOD club is not a food bank, and, although it’s a bargain, it does require a financial contribution. But as we know that we’ve got the infrastructure here for packing and delivering food to people who arrive, we also prepare emergency food parcels here for people who are accessing the local authority’s hardship fund.
It’s useful as working with the local authority and other charities stops us from having to turn people away, and we can always refer those in the greatest need for more help – help like the Family Action Fund and Family Action’s Toy Appeal this Christmas, which gave toys and shopping vouchers to those in need.
“Working with the local authority and other charities stops us from having to turn people away, and we can always refer those in the greatest need for more help – help like the Family Action Fund and Family Action’s Toy Appeal this Christmas, which gave toys and shopping vouchers to those in need.”
I think one of the nicest aspects of our community links is that it means we produce zero food waste. We’re very popular but if, for any reason, we don’t use all the food we’re given we will pass it on to local food banks or even a local retirement home.
That’s one of my favourite stories as one woman at the retirement home took the oranges and fruits we sent, made a bunch of marmalade and jam and brought it back to us. They’re amazing and I’m always surprised at how people can make something out of nothing.
Finally, if the food’s close to expiring, we’ll give it to a local farmer to feed his animals. Even that’s inspired us though, as we’re now planting our own vegetable patches and composting around the back.
We keep a recipe folder in the service so that we can help families with inspiration if we get a batch of food people aren’t experienced with – After Halloween, for example, there were so many pumpkins and nobody knew what to do with them! It adds up to a family feel where everyone chips in – we have donations from local churches, individuals and businesses.
This can be money or food but often are things that parents might appreciate like children’s books, cooking utensils or picture frames. In one case a woman knitted baby clothes for the parents of younger children who attend.
They’re such a lovely lot and there are quite a few that see each other week to week and they just want to help each other. People just want to give something back.
If you’d like to explore volunteering with us, or would simply like to find out more, visit our volunteering page.
