Pret Glasgow, Gordon Street

EWfC's vision is to see Scotland as an inclusive and equal place where all women are cherished, empowered and are credited as active citizens. In realising the support gaps and unique needs of diverse women and their families, EWfC provides opportunities for essentials to support BME families, education, awareness creation of rights and skills development.

We run two projects under the banner of The Everlasting Foodbank. Our foodbank is for people to receive emergency food in times of crisis or need. We also give people clothing, toiletries and a friendly face to chat with. Alongside food we encourage people to sit with us and chat over some coffee/tea and buiscuits. Sometimes we find that we can be the only people that someone talks to that day. We have been well supported by the local community who find us to be reassuringly approachable. Up to today we have fed over 1600 people after opening for just about 4 years. The hope and aim is to be able to be a resource for the community and help people with their immediate need but also help them to recover from their current crisis situation. We have recently launched a community cafe. This helps people in need (those who would qualify to use the foodbank) with free hot food made by our team of volunteer chefs. There is encouragement of socialising between cafe users and similar to the foodbank we have people who will sit and talk with users. The cafe provides job experience for those who use the foodbank by letting them volunteer in the cafe itself. This greatly helps to move people from reliance on foodbanks to get back into work. Alongside the cafe we also provide a one-to-one drop-in centre for help and signposting.

Homeless Project Scotland is a fledgling charity, set up in October 2019 by a handful of volunteers that wanted to give homeless people on the streets  of our towns and cities hot drinks and food during the harsh winter nights. Initially we set out with backpacks of flasks and sandwiches walking the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh to ensure that anyone found struggling was able at least to get a hot drink and something to eat. Within a short period of time, we managed to recruit a team of volunteers who began to distribute a selection of food, essential toiletries and warm clothes.  We were  fortunate to enlist the support from major companies such as Aldi, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer, who have kindly donated supplies of food which we collect  during the day and then distribute to homeless shelters throughout Glasgow, Edinburgh and Lanarkshire in the evenings. Recently we were generously given free use of a van from Arnold  Clark which has enabled us to increase our collections and deliveries. Within six months we also managed to buy and renovate an old trailer which we use to provide a soup kitchen in Glasgow city centre three nights a week. The Covid-19 crisis has forced us off the streets and we have adapted our services to continue to support the homeless and vulnerable by providing home-cooked meals prepared by our volunteers , which we deliver weekly to homeless projects around Glasgow and Lanarkshire. 2,500 Weekly. A grant from Foundation Scotland has enabled us to set up a 24 hour telephone helpline. Cash for kids have provided funding  for food parcels, top up cards for utilities and mobile phones. We have also been able to provide mobile phones to the most vulnerable allowing them to access help and support services.  A grant from the William Grant Foundation has made it possible  to purchase office equipment, enabling us to  improve and expand our services to an ever increasing client base. By July 2020 We  have provided 2500 meals weekly to the homeless and vulnerable.   http://www.homelessprojectscotland.org/our-story/