B&Q Wednesbury

The Good Shepherd has had a presence in Wolverhampton more than 50 years. During that time we have adapted and changed our services to meet the needs of our service users but food has always been at the heart of what we do. We believe that the food element of our charity is the magnet which draws in those struggling from financial poverty and hardship then once trust is formed, we can help people address other issues to improve their health and wellbeing. Our vision for the whole charity is by offering clients a wide range of services which they can use whilst attending for a meal or take away will remove barriers for vulnerable groups. We are targeting agencies that support economic self-sufficiency, relieve or prevent homelessness and improve health and wellbeing. Our main client group is rough sleepers and those who are vulnerable or in poverty as well as families in need. With the food service underpinning that help and support, tackling food waste is also something we are passionate about to ensure food doesn’t go to landfill. We have regular suppliers but are also heavily reliant on donations from the public and charitable funds to ensure we can provide wholesome meals - which our clients would otherwise not receive - to meet their daily need. The essence of the Good Shepherd is that providing food and hospitality brings in the most entrenched individuals to our services and helps us breaks barriers and gain trust which in time helps them open up on many issues. It is then we can start to make referrals and get the support needed for them to make positive and sustained changes to their lives. As mentioned, at the Good Shepherd we are passionate about reducing the amount of food which goes to waste. Over a six-month period during 2020 we prevented 25 tonnes of quality food going to waste, instead ensuring it was used within our food service and passed on to our clients. Helping us reduce the amount of food waste are the close and positive working relationships we have developed with food distributors. We work with many local restaurants and supermarkets to ensure we can make use of their surplus stock or stock approaching sell-by date that they know they will not be able to use. We served over 23,000 hot meals in 2023 driven by the aim of providing good and healthy food so that we know those accessing our services were receiving at least one good, nutritious meal each day.

Willows Primary Academy is a large primary school in the north of Lichfield. We pride ourselves on being a very successful school. Staff enjoy working here and children enjoy learning here. It all goes towards providing children with a caring and secure environment. Children are given a wide range of opportunities at The Willows Academy. A considerable number (currently about 50%) of our pupils are in receipt of Pupil Premium funding. This is used to support and enhance these children in their learning. An important part of this is enrichment and providing our Pupil premium pupils with extra opportunities. We strive to ensure that none of our children are hungry. We provide breakfast for children that have not had any before arriving at school. We also provide a mid-morning snack of toast or fruit for any child that is hungry during the school day. We provide food support for families that need help with having sufficient food supplies. Our full-time Family Support Worker supports families in times of need to access our Local Food Bank. We run a free after-school cooking club to educate children in the cooking of healthy and wholesome foods.

We are a ministry without walls. Our mandate is to be an answer to those who need help the most. At present we do food distribution within the west Bromwich area on a Saturday and in Birmingham City Centre on a Monday evening/night. Our goal is to find a building that we could use as a homeless shelter, to cater for the needs of our growing homeless community. As to work as an advocate to help them back into our communities. We self fund our project with the help from Tesco supermarket and Greggs bakery donations. We also have a project for children and young people called MisFits Mentorship. MisFits Mentorship aims to engage marginalised children and youth their rights to health and education services in the Birmingham. The project was created to bring together local young people in a safe place to find support with life issues that they are experiencing today. Our aim is to support and promote the health and well-being of young people in Birmingham and the surrounding area by offering advice, guidance, counselling, mental health awareness, wellbeing activities and social prescribing.