B&Q Erdington

We provide Housing Support and Management Services to hundreds of Homeless and Mental Health service users all across Birmingham but continue to face more and more issues when it comes to making sure that the service users are having enough food to eat and more people are struggling to afford essential items like food, clothing and toiletries. Why we opened our own food bank? During the Covid-19 Pandemic foodbank usage tenfold and as an organisation we have been able to help the most vulnerable of our tenants during the most challenging of times. After seeing the challenges faced by our residents and the wider community to eat well on a challenging budget, with many stories from our service users of going hungry and struggling to access foodbanks, we decided to make a difference and do our part to start tackling hunger. We know there is always more to do and more people to help and we couldn't do that without the donations we receive from our partners such as Neighbourly and Toiletries Amnesty to receive donations from major supermarkets like Lidl and alongside self-funding further provisions to ensure we could meet a wide range of dietary requirements. We also receive donations from individuals and local businesses which we are so grateful for. “We are proud have been part the Neighbourly Project since 2017, who help us with donations of food and drink items. In 2019 we joined Toiletries Amnesty to further develop our service; they provide much needed toiletries for our service users”. What premises does your project operate from? Our foodbank operates from Vanguard Supported Housing CIC head office based at 23 Kenyon Street, jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B18 6AR. How do we identify service users and their needs? All our service users are referred for housing through third party organisations such as Birmingham City Council Homeless Services, West Midlands Probation Services. Once accepted for housing they will be invited to attend an assessment and viewing appointment at our head office and at this stage any support goals will be discussed with our lead Assessor if needed any requests for food bank items such as bedding, personal hygiene products and food parcels be discussed and if warranted will be issued before the service user leaves to move into their new home. Support Workers from Vanguard or partner agencies are able to refer their service users to the food bank where our foodbank manager will support them to complete a foodbank referral form and budget form. Are there any other services provided by your organisation other than food support? Our organisation Vanguard Supported Housing CIC houses vulnerable adults in shared and supported accommodation. We provide person We are proud to say that all our services are offered free of charge to all our residents. . We also accept referrals for food parcels from our partner agencies such as Spring Housing and Guardian Housing.

We are a small charitable community group based in Kingstanding, one of the more deprived areas of Birmingham. We provide support to families, the homeless, elderly and underprivileged members of our community. Our main project ' TiCs Food Parcels' is currently helping the vulnerable and those affected by the rising cost of living by providing community members with food parcels on a fortnightly basis. We collect and distibute surplus food donations and essential items from supermarkets, to help people in need. Our other projects include our Annual Boxing Day Meal, Homeless Shoe Box Project, Fun Days and other outside events. We also provide training and health workshops relevant to our community.

Matty’s Place is registered limited company formed to provide self sufficient accommodation for vulnerable groups with a focus on the homeless. Each placement will be supported with additional care and support for the service user to meet their individual needs. Aimed at vulnerable adults aged 18 and over, Matty’s place will actively support and promote community cohesion and well-being through education and training. Matty’s Place plans to offer dynamic, unique and constantly evolving programs and services that will benefit service users in a productive way to empower independent living and social inclusion. Matty’s Place Limited is projecting to have 30 fully furbished properties accommodated by the end of 2020. At present we have ten properties accommodated through alternative housing schemes. A further five are available to be let immediately and access to at least fifteen more by the end of the year has been agreed subject to terms. Matty’s Place has direct links with letting agents and landlords willing to use investment property towards our social housing mission. With access to a large number of private rented properties, Matty’s Place is in a fine position to deliver a much needed service where the demand is increasingly high. Surplus donations from stores such as Aldi and Lidl can prove to be very valuable to us as we are supporting over 120 service users and they are always in need of supplies due to their unfortunate circumstances.