ALDI BAMBER BRIDGE

The British Red Cross is the single biggest provider of support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Fleeing your home and arriving in a new country is a traumatic experience. Our Refugee Service supports vulnerable refugee and asylum-seeking individuals and families as they settle into their new lives here in Lancashire. However, once they are here, many families who fled one extraordinary situation find themselves facing another: destitution. Our Preston Refugee Hub is open to refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants in the Preston area. We offer a welcome environment where service users can get a free hot meal in a social space. We are able to provide emergency provisions for those that are in destitute situations, as well as access to English language lessons and caseworkers who are able signpost vital information on health services, housing advice, faith organisations and local leisure facilities. Our overall aim is to support individuals and families with adapting to life in a new country. With the current humanitarian crisis across Europe and the Middle East, more families than ever before are approaching the Red Cross for help. This year alone, the number of people in need of our help has increased by a staggering 50%, which is only set to increase as more families arrive in Lancashire from Syria and other countries torn apart by conflict.

Our objective is to reach out to our community and the nation with the love of God and the gospel of the kingdom, being the hand and feet of jesus to all. we carry out dance outreaches, midweek and sunday services, breaking of bread services, and other outreaches. we participate in street pastoring & committed to the unity of churches. we are big enough to accommodate everyone & to give all significance. We also carry out food outreaches where we give out food to the vulnerable in our community

WHERE ARE WE NOW? Established in 2013 we provide food support to the individuals and families of Bamber Bridge, run by volunteers we rely totally on donations. WHERE ARE WE GOING? To grow from merely a giver of food and evolve into a Community Hub. In August 2022 we took procession of our LARDER, a 40-foot shipping container. It "landed" to the rear of St. Aidan's Church. There we had it fitted with shelves and stocked it with food. WHERE ARE WE GOING? Food insecurity is on the increase. Giving out food to more people is not the answer. We have families experiencing unemployment, benefit delays, sanctions, and shortened hours. Some are experiencing life’s tipping points, relation breakdown, bereavement, ill health. The reasons for coming to a Food Bank are multiple and complex. Since we opened the LARDER we have registered 110 families. Some need food for a few weeks' others long term. On average we give food support to 60 families Our aim is to make their visit to the LARDER more meaningful. Being next to the Church Hall we can offer refreshments. Volunteers are there to meet and greet and we invite representatives of various organizations to come and offer help and support. OUR VISION To improve the nutritional level of the food we offer. To offer a wider variety of food items. To improve the cooking skills of families To improve the health and hygiene standards. WE NEED To provide more slow cookers. To provide basic cookery classes To develop our "Meal Deal" project by providing recipes with the relevant ingredients CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY LARDER CARE AND SHARE