Lidl Coatbridge

Annual Report for 2024 We are pleased to present our Annual Report for 2024, highlighting the significant accomplishments and efforts of our organisation in supporting those in need. Food Poverty Relief Our primary focus this year was addressing food poverty. We have strengthened our partnerships within the Gorbals Area of Glasgow through our affiliation with Fareshare, enabling us to identify areas where families require assistance. As a result, we have successfully delivered food to numerous foodbanks, particularly in some of the most deprived areas. Milestone Achievements By November 2024, we achieved an impressive milestone by distributing 250,000kg of food to four main partner organisations. This included: • 4700 pickups of food from supermarket leftovers. • Providing approximately 640,000 meals to those in need. Fuel Awareness Campaign In addition to our food distribution efforts, we have initiated an awareness campaign to assist people with their fuel bills. This initiative involved web-based and in-person interactions at food banks. Purposes The organisation's purposes are: 4.1 the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill health , disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage 4.2 the prevention or relief of poverty primarily through the provision of funds and services that will alleviate those disadvantages both within scotland and abroad.

We start providing services in the community in January 2024 with our BRAIDS ACADEMY. Many parents currently struggle to maintain their children's hair due to lack of braiding skills and this struggle adds on top of day-to-day school run. The course itself is free but candidates pay £50 to cover their mannequin and all the hair accessories needed for the course. However, we have been unsuccessful in our applications for funding but due to the need of this skills we use our pocket money to run these course until the present day. This is a unique course in the community and know we are making a difference through the testimonials we receive from candidates as well as local organisations - many parents/guardians can now braid their children's hair with Dutch/French Braids, Cornrows, boxing braids and are saving a lot of money as well as starting their own business. Please help us buy mannequins and all hair accessories. We also run a pantry called HCRC COMMUNITY ESSENTIALS for people living in Glasgow particularly in the Eastend areas. However, people from different areas are making use of our services too due to the current financial crisis. Our pantry is getting momentum each week but what we make is too little to sustain the charity shop rent, buy food, pay insurance and other charity bills. Your donation will help us continue to run our services. At the moment we run the pantry once a week on Tuesdays from 10.30am to 1.30pm. This is a soft start to help us get help and support from supermarkets and local businesses. However, we intend to operate Monday to Friday from June 2025. Surplus received from supermarkets and local businesses are suggested donation. However, if an individual decides to join the pantry membership (£5 yearly), they will be entitled to shop once a week, pay £5 which gives them up to 12 grocery points to spend on each visit. We have 3 freezers (with fish, meat, chicken, chips, frozen vegetables etc) and a fridge (with milk, juice, eggs fruits and vegetables) where members can access the essentials they need to get through the week. We also provide toiletries in addition to the goods on the shelves. At the pantry we are not only serving Scottish people as well as Asian, African and Europe. Happy Creative Recreational Centre (HCRC) also runs a clothes shop called HCRC RE- USE SHOP which is also based at the circle on the 2 Nd floor. We also operate on Tuesdays at the moment but intend to open its doors also Monday to Friday. Our heart is to help the community and so these pre-loved chothes and household items are sold in an affordable price to facilitate individuals in the community. We are also taking referrals from organisations. Coming up soon at HAPPY CREATIVE RECREATIONAL CENTRE is our tailored braids Academy programme for children, teenagers and young adults from 5th April 2025. Your donation is welcome. Thank you for your generosity. God bless you.

St.Andrew’s Nursery is located in Airdrie. We are part of St. Andrew’s Primary School. Currently, we cater for 30 children aged 3-5. At our nursery we have fantastic young learners who are eager to learn through their first hand experiences whether it’s in the garden or in the playrooms. The children love to dig in the mud and learn to grow and plant vegetables. Outside they like to climb and slide on the chute, developing their physical strengt, self control and social skills. Inside the nursery the children are taught to grow healthy through learning healthy habits for example they are encouraged to make healthy choices and learn how to bake and cook, they use their wee hands to peel, grate or stir gaining an early knowledge of life long experiences and skills. We want to expand our nursery environment bringing new resources and equipment to make a difference in their learning process and help them grow their individual skills and interests. We have set up our own small foodbank to support some of our struggling families and it is on display for families to help themselves to what they require. It would be a great help if we could have extra support by receiving food from shops nearby to add to our food bank and also to help with feeding some of our children a warm snack while at nursery.