ALDI BEDLINGTON - SCHALKSMUHLE RD

Situated within a large social housing estate (ex council stock) our building is recognised as a community hub and has evolved according to community need. NCEL runs a number of services and projects from its Hub, known locally as The Stobhill Link; particularly targeting the elderly, disabled, disadvantaged and isolated as well as the unemployed working age community in order to alleviate hardship and provide opportunities for brighter futures for our residents. We have confidential and informal conversations with our clients discussing their primary reason for coming into see us and then are able to offer a wrap around service where we can support them further. - General charitable purposes - Education/training - Disability - Economic/community development/employment - Recreation - Children/young people - Elderly/old people - People with disabilities - The general public/mankind - Provides buildings/facilities/open space - Provides services - Provides advocacy/advice/information In response to the Covid-19 Outbreak, we immediately launched an enabling service, this resulted in more than 90 local people offering their time, energy and fuel to deliver shopping, prescriptions etc. to those who were self-isolating or vulnerable and unable to leave their home. This encouraged our local newspaper the Morpeth Herald to contact us and include an article on what we were doing with the support of our community. We currently have connections with a local charity, Calmer Therapy where we are starting a project called The Bread & Butter Thing also with the Council and their strategic food partnership known as Nourish to tackle food poverty.

Community Food and Friendship Blyth is a small registered charity number 1191399 based in Blyth Northumberland. The group has nine trustees and many volunteers who work with adults and children who face challenging times to find enough food to eat. We offer a free Bacon Butty drop in for men every Thursday morning and provide emergency food, clothes, toiletries and work with partner organizations who offer advice, training and counselling. We also work with local schools providing crisis food boxes on request, Christmas toys and Christmas Eve Food Hampers by referral, all food and other items are donated by local businesses and the local community. None of this would be possible without our fabulous volunteers who collect, pack and deliver often with little notice.

Every day, people go hungry in the UK for all kinds of reasons, from changes and delays in the benefits system to redundancy to receiving an unexpectedly large bill for a major repair. A simple box of food makes a big difference, with foodbanks helping prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdown and mental health problems. We work with local GP’s, Northumberland County Council, Citizens Advice, the Job Centre and local support agencies to identify those in need of food help. At Cramlington Foodbank at the Hope Centre (in addition to food support) our activities include a uniform and baby equipment provision, spiritual, legal, financial and pastoral services in order to help those in our local community in need. All of our services are completely free of charge.