Lidl Maldon

The objective of the charity is the relief of poverty, both material and emotional in England & Wales and abroad through: the person to person involvement of its voluntary members engaged in befriending and through 'special works' , which are projects established to address specific needs in the local community. We are the branch (known as a Conference) based in Springfield, Chelmsford. We work with families on low income or on benefits and provide regular food parcels, using the food collected from Neighbourly. We also small stock of emergency parcels ready to be delivered to people who are being moved into temporary accommodation, again using food donations collected from stores using the Neighbourly scheme. All food parcels are given free of charge and any surplus food is donated to The Little Free Pantry scheme. Every Christmas and New Year we collect food from supermarkets, with over 200 families provided for last year thanks to a large group of volunteers giving up their time. Some of the food collected this summer will be distributed at our Family Fun Day, for children who will not have a holiday. We work closely with other charities across Chelmsford and share surplus food with them. This means that collected food does not go to waste.

We are creating a space to escape the stress & pressure of life, gain confidence & reduce the isolation felt by those living with disability. For the last 13 years we have run our award winning Educational Animal Encounter business across Essex, & surrounding areas, allowing children & adults to get up close & hands on with our animals. We visit schools, organisations, & host public & private displays, all the time educating our audience. A very important part of what we do is offer SEN & therapy sessions. Over the years we have met some fantastic children & adults, who don’t usually get the chance to meet any animals, let alone Meerkats or snakes. What we love most about our sensory sessions is the range of reactions we get from those that we visit, we might visit a dementia unit & by stroking a ferret or holding a tortoise, an area of the residents brain is reawakened & family members can’t believe their normally very quiet relative is sat chatting away about how they used to keep ferrets as a child and reliving fantastic memories they’ve never heard them talk about before. Due to the many requests from our customers we are now creating a non-profit static centre where people can come & visit, learn about & get up close to our animals. Our focus will be on our Therapeutic services, offering an interactive zoo experience aimed at the many people who struggle to go to busy zoos, this may be down to a fear of large crowds, too much noise or generally feeling that the facilities won’t be appropriate for their disability or mental health condition. It has been proven that when people are interacting with animals, seeing them and having physical contact with them, endorphins are released which produce a calming effect & because your mood is improved it increases social interaction, you want to learn about the animal, you ask questions & then to talk about your experience. I have personal experience of this aiding depression and anxiety. Our facility will be a place where people can have an immersive zoo experience, a space people can visit with peace of mind that no-one will be judging them, they are in a safe place & they don’t need to rush or worry about others. Giving them the opportunity to sit with our animals to fully appreciate their beauty & calming effect. This will be available for schools, organisations or private bookings where people would be able to visit or book in for one to one sessions with our team, whether that be for a private tour of the facility, a private Educational Animal Encounter or Sensory Session, or simply visit our site & enjoy the animals at their own pace. We also want to offer work placements & volunteer positions for children, young people & adults who are struggling to attend school or work, to help them get into a routine, regain their sense of purpose and focus so they are able to get back into education or full-time work. Having a safe space to visit can help reduce the overwhelming emotions being felt.

Building communities and strengthening families