B&Q Leicester

Alice Hawkins Community Projects are working with local people to enable change within the community, providing support for those on the poverty line and from less privileged backgrounds so they can focus on improving their lives, accessing opportunities and developing the community they belong to. As a community interest company we run a number of initiatives and projects supported by public donations and funding, run by volunteers and our members. Our first and ongoing project, setup in the pandemic and previously known as ‘Woodgate Community Food; our food bank offers support for those in need living in the Fosse and Westcotes wards of Leicester city. We provide top up food parcels for over 100 households a week and are always in need of additional funds for this ongoing project. The cost of living has increased and this especially true in the Winter months for the most vulnerable in our community. In 2022 we embarked on a electric blanket campaign to support those most affected with the high prices of fuel by providing an alternative cheaper way of localised heating. We now have a Community Garden which we started in 2023 after being awarded The National Grid’s Community Green Spaces Fund to start a community container garden at the Annexe.

The Wigston Magna Community Fridge is an environmental project attached to the Wigston Magna Family Hub. It was set up in a growing effort to tackle food waste. This project is open to everyone, there are no referral criteria, the general public can just turn up and be supplied with free food that has been donated. However, we know that many people are struggling at the moment and so we do get requests for food parcels for local families that are being supported by the Family Hub that we are part of. The Community Fridge is also well known amongst the local homeless people that use other services in the area and they also attend. The Family Hub is part of Leicestershire County Council's Family Help Service. Families are supported across the county with a variety of issues such as poverty, ill health, mental health issues and disabilities. People are supported individually with visits from Family Support Workers as well as a variety of groups that support parenting skills. There is no charge for either the Community Fridge or the Family Hub services. The Community Fridge is open Wednesday and Thursday 1pm-2pm and Friday, 11am to 12 noon. The project enables residents and businesses to share surplus food and for anyone to help themselves to quality food that would otherwise be wasted. We aim to help people in need in the Wigston and surrounding area and decrease food waste at the same time. Food waste is a big issue in the UK. The average household throws away £700 worth of food every year and at the same time 4 million people in the UK are living in food poverty. Most food waste in the UK is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed.

Streets ahead for information is a small, not-for-profit organisation, Established in 2006. We work in one of the most deprived communities in the UK. Based on the 'local high street' in the densely urbanised area of Gresham/Newport in Middlesbrough, the area is multi cultural with over 45 languages being spoken at one of the local primary school. the level of owner occupiers has drastically reduced over the past few years resulting in a large stock of low cost rented accommodation We help residents of the area navigate their way around the issues that life places in front of them. We offer a drop-in information service, English classes for people with English as a second language, a reporting centre for environmental/waste issues, ASB, hate crime and anything else that they face. we also offer a shop which redistributes unsold food stock. We provide activities to help people develop skills and to feel less isolated, this includes family tree sessions, friendship groups, up-cycling and recycling workshops. Our challenge is to run a community gala every year - this becomes more and more challenging as funding is not easy in our area as many of our residents do not have enough money to see themselves and their families thorough the week let alone supply funding for this event.