ALDI ELLAND

We are a dedicated team, and are all experienced in delivering care to service users facilitating Hospital Discharge and community referrals. We work to the highest standards and like to go the extra mile for the people for whom we provide care. The team is looking to find ways in which we can go that step further to support our service users in times of need, especially when it comes to help and assistance with buying food, amenities. We have been proactive and because of past experiences were service users have run out of money and have had no food, the team now has a small food bank with emergency stock we can use in the short term to help those experiencing difficulties and unable to buy necessary amenities. We actively support the Vulnerable of Calderdale and Deliver unwanted food from supermarkets, including Marks and Spencer’s, and Lidl. The project is run by a single person, Rhea, who has support from her family and friends to run this, operated out of her own home. We have service users who are 18+ with all different needs, we also have families out in the community who we support as and when needed. There is no charge for our support. We haven’t had any local press, but working as part of a council Rhea and her mum makes this known who we are and what we do. In the run up to winter we have individuals in which we work with who support us with donations for our stock. Our foodbank has been so helpful around the community, the toy bank donation in which we receive at Christmas time made so many children’s Christmas. We work closely with a social worker within the council who had many families who are in need and don’t know where to turn. We do not charge for our services - this is a free service, we distribute the surplus free of charge, which includes food e.g dry goods, toiletries such as soap, sponges etc, and from the Lidl toy bank around Christmas time, we get donations of toys. A reference from a social worker which we support often for individuals in which they are supporting is ‘ Hello Rhea/Tracey Thank you again for the food parcels you have kindly donated to Children’s Social Care over the past years, as well as the Christmas present donations. We greatly appreciate all your support and contributions for the children and families we work with who are in need of this help. Your generosity has made a real difference, providing essentials during difficult times, bringing joy to children at Christmas, and helping families feel supported and valued. Because of contributions like yours, we’ve been able to ensure that vulnerable families have access to food and gifts that they otherwise might have gone without. This has a huge positive impact on their wellbeing and sense of community. Warm regards, Natalie P’

Focus4Hope was founded in 2016 by a group of friends wanting to make a difference in their local area. Since then, we have grown into a prominent non-profit and pillar of the community, having had the opportunity to help thousands of local vulnerable people. We provide the region with essential services, focusing primarily on supporting local homeless, elderly, and otherwise isolated/lonely individuals. We also fundraise, and organise a variety of events, including fortnightly outreach programs in West Yorkshire. Focus4Hope was proud to become the first social supermarket in the Calderdale region in February 2023 helping the elderly, disabled and vulnerable in our community. We run this alongside Calderdale Credit Union, making sure our members save as they shop. We offer the supermarket as a community wide non-eligibility service. You register online. We run budgeting courses and financial reviews alongside this service to make sure people are getting the correct benefits and can budget their money. Helping to complete PIP forms, DLA and giving our members a bubble of support. We refer to other services in the area to help people in all aspects of their lives. We run our FOcus4SEN support group, a safe space for the SEND community to get advice and speak with other carers to help with day to day issues. Our senior day trips and afternoon teas run monthly. Taking our senior community all over Yorkshire, the days out are a life line if you live on your own. Making friends and combatting isolation and loneliness. Our community hub in the centre of Brighouse is open Monday to Friday for any crisis drop ins.

The Halifax Community Fridge, is open daily enabling residents and businesses to share surplus food and for anyone to help themselves to quality food that would otherwise be wasted. Unlike food banks, the Halifax Community Fridge is not means-tested - it is available to anyone. It is also discreetly situated and avoids any stigma its users may otherwise feel. The Halifax Community Fridge launched in August 2020, and has remained open every-single-day since. We are open 365-days-a-year, and are a lifeline for up to 100 families each day. No questions are asked, everyone is welcome. Working alongside Neighbourly has enabled us to support our towns local supermarkets in drastically reducing their carbon footprint and food wastage, which in-turn has stopped our community from going to sleep hungry. The work of the Halifax Community Fridge extends beyond free food and drink, everything we do is free to the community that we love to serve. We offer free winter coats, free sanitary packs for females, free pet food to owners and pets in need, free household items to support families in need and so much more We feature regularly in local and national media, showing the incredible work of the community fridge project and how it has brought our community together. In doing so, we have redistributed millions of items of food and drink back into our local community. Our work is spreading across the U.K., in supporting other Mosques and organisations in setting-up their own community fridges and serve their diverse communities, we are in the process of supporting around 20 organisations to support different communities across the country, examples are provided: Birmingham Community Fridge: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/67aa5fc339570a98e11db096 JTI Community Fridge: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/658465f445476114d40756b2 Keighley Community Fridge: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/6783c6ef823a3f527caa5fd1 Ashton Community Fridge: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/66df7367c6579d8b4c3cce1a Here’s some recent links from the media regarding our work: https://www.calderdalechildcare.org.uk/kb5/calderdale/fsd/service.page?id=aeQeVWscSc8 https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/people/award-for-halifax-mosque-project-which-is-a-lifeline-for-towns-most-vulnerable-4886288 https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/people/halifax-community-fridge-national-award-for-halifax-pharmacist-hero-who-goes-above-and-beyond-4285769 https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/people/halifax-community-fridge-the-selfless-volunteers-who-have-been-out-every-day-for-1000-days-feeding-halifaxs-hungry-4123860 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leeds-56201351 https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/free-food-fridge-halifax-bringing-20600051.amp