M&S Stadium Milton Keynes

ln August 2007, ECE recieved a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of 300,000 members of the IYF (International Youth Fellowship) for our contribution to the UK branch. In September 2008, Esther Community Enterprise was awarded certificates from the Lord Mayor of Croydon, for having carried out 100 hours of volunteering activities. On the 2 June 2011, ECE was awarded with theQueens Award for Voluntary Service, MBE. This is the highest award given to voluntary groups in the United Kingdom, and as such, is equivalent in status to the MBE. This prestigious UK National Honour recognises outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, with the work of those awarded being judged to be of the highest standard. We aim to meet those who have needs in the local community by redistribution of food and other consumables donated from retailers. ECE makes a worthwhile collective response to the 3 tenets of sustainable development, namely social, economical and environmental needs. ECE forms a consortium with other charities, faith groups, projects and organisations. We have over 70 Project Co-ordinators. They manage and help to distribute the food/groceries and clothing items within the local communities across the UK, on behalf of ECE. We have sustained our social enterprise through the goodwill and hard work of over 400 drivers and countless volunteers, who contribute their time, transportation and finance to this worthy cause. Near sell by date food is collected on a daily basis from a range of supermarkets and other retailers and diverted to those that need it most ECE feeds in excess of 40,000 people per week and this is steadily on the increase as we expand across the UK

Jo’s Hope mission is to provide ‘light, inspiration and hope’. We are unlike any other organisation in terms of our remit and practise. We supply Post-Surgery Bras to breast cancer patients Yoga classes for all cancer patients and their companions Musical Theatre sessions for disadvantaged youths Music Lessons for disadvantaged youths Mentor Scheme Parent Advocacy Restart Programme: rehabilitating offender programme Food For All Scheme: Provides low income, Mid income, Disabled, Elderly and people suffering from or affected by illness access to good quality food at a fraction of price. Mama Jo’s Kitchen: Sell west Indian food and the profits go towards providing the homeless with a hot meal. All our programmes are delivered free of charge and fuss. We aim to help and support as many people as possible without the major intrusion of private life and non-judgementally. Did you know you can only access a food bank 6 times in one 12 month period. What are these families supposed to do for the other 46 weeks of the year. Additionally, you need to be referred. When you are suffering from sickness these referrals are not always open to you. We need a regular income from companies, we need food/ product donations and support with events, we welcome investors. We welcome questions, we welcome meetings. We keep our running costs low to maximise output to the community. We have been piloting the above within Milton Keynes and so far we have had a lot of positive feedback. Examining breast cancer within the Milton Keynes breast care remit there are a number of crucial provisions not available to those diagnosed due to funding cutbacks. They are as follows: - a) Breast Cancer patients requiring surgery, you will not be provided with the 'Crucial' post surgery bra required to help wounds heal. b) Limited supply of Psychological Assistance needed for cancer patients, and none that are known to me at present for the families of non bereaved members. c) There are NO none medical therapeutic provisions available to cancer patients that don’t involve a waiting list of up to 6 months. Cancer affects many people in many ways. My aim is to give someone who has been diagnosed with cancer or has suffered from cancer one ounce of his or her pre cancer self back. For clarity I need to define what I mean by the following; Pre Cancer Self: Everyone acted normal around you. You received a text message once a week from family and friends if you were lucky. Work colleagues expected you to be able to move heaven and earth in a day. No one cared if you needed a cup of tea or coffee and travel insurance was £19.99 for an annual subscription. Post Cancer Self: Bandanas and head wraps are your new best friends (because you lost all your hair through the horrid chemo). Family and friends you had forgotten about call and ask how you are, so much so that taking a nap and leaving the phone on silent can prompt a love one to call the police, ambulance and fire brigade to

We started in October 2015 feeding the homeless, rootless and in need on a Saturday. We now run a Social Supermarket on Tuesdays 12 - 2, a fresh fruit and vegetable food bank on Thursdays 12 - 2 all from surplus food from Supermarkets and Saturdays we serve hot food 5 - 6pm. We currently run 5 projects. Our first project is Dine With Us on The Streets - Cherries Legacy where we support between 80 to 100 people with hot hearty food, take away food such as tins, sandwiches, crisps, fruit, hot drinks, toiletries and clothes, every Saturday These are people who are either street homeless, in hostels, on means tested benefits or in other financial crisis. We have been running this project since October 2015 and we believe in treating people with respect and with dignity. Our second project is Dine With Us Community Larder, our Food Bank project ,launched in February 2019, giving access to vital nourishment for those suffering food poverty. The need for this is much greater than we anticipated and we now need more partners so we can ensure that we have enough food to meet the demand. We are also incurring significant costs operating the programme, with the yearly rent on the unit, running costs and other sundries. We have seen as many as 75 (seventy five) families come to collect food in a single day. Our third project sees us support 11 schools with more looking to come on board (which we cannot commit to yet as we do not have enough food). Fresh fruit and vegetables and protein play a pivotal part in our organisation, as is encouraging people to eat more healthily, regardless of their circumstances. Our fourth project is sending out care packages to the community, quite often through the schools as well and our fifth project is opening and running Bedfords first Social Supermarket which has been in operation since April 2020. This gives people access to affordable food and provides a fundraising vehicle for us, to help towards the other projects we run on a goodwill basis.