GAIL'S Birmingham New Street

Our 0rganisation works with Men, Women, Young People, Elderly and The Homeless, by supporting them in all different areas, clothing, toiletries, personal hygiene, food items and providing them a hot drink and a meal. We are also starting up a Breakfast Club on Saturday, for the Elderly, and people from the disadvantaged group, due to the demand for something in the Birmingham area on Saturday mornings. And finally we are wanting to start up a foodbank for single mothers and fathers that have a partner in prison and are struggling to feed their families.

We provide Housing Support and Management Services to hundreds of Homeless and Mental Health service users all across Birmingham but continue to face more and more issues when it comes to making sure that the service users are having enough food to eat and more people are struggling to afford essential items like food, clothing and toiletries. Why we opened our own food bank? During the Covid-19 Pandemic foodbank usage tenfold and as an organisation we have been able to help the most vulnerable of our tenants during the most challenging of times. After seeing the challenges faced by our residents and the wider community to eat well on a challenging budget, with many stories from our service users of going hungry and struggling to access foodbanks, we decided to make a difference and do our part to start tackling hunger. We know there is always more to do and more people to help and we couldn't do that without the donations we receive from our partners such as Neighbourly and Toiletries Amnesty to receive donations from major supermarkets like Lidl and alongside self-funding further provisions to ensure we could meet a wide range of dietary requirements. We also receive donations from individuals and local businesses which we are so grateful for. “We are proud have been part the Neighbourly Project since 2017, who help us with donations of food and drink items. In 2019 we joined Toiletries Amnesty to further develop our service; they provide much needed toiletries for our service users”. What premises does your project operate from? Our foodbank operates from Vanguard Supported Housing CIC head office based at 23 Kenyon Street, jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B18 6AR. How do we identify service users and their needs? All our service users are referred for housing through third party organisations such as Birmingham City Council Homeless Services, West Midlands Probation Services. Once accepted for housing they will be invited to attend an assessment and viewing appointment at our head office and at this stage any support goals will be discussed with our lead Assessor if needed any requests for food bank items such as bedding, personal hygiene products and food parcels be discussed and if warranted will be issued before the service user leaves to move into their new home. Support Workers from Vanguard or partner agencies are able to refer their service users to the food bank where our foodbank manager will support them to complete a foodbank referral form and budget form. Are there any other services provided by your organisation other than food support? Our organisation Vanguard Supported Housing CIC houses vulnerable adults in shared and supported accommodation. We provide person We are proud to say that all our services are offered free of charge to all our residents. . We also accept referrals for food parcels from our partner agencies such as Spring Housing and Guardian Housing.

Reachout Birmingham was established in 2017 by a group of enthusiastic individuals with the common goal of helping those less fortunate than ourselves on the streets of Birmingham City Centre. We provide hot meals, sandwiches, snacks, hot and cold drinks which are prepared by volunteers. We also provide sleeping bags, cleaning essentials and clothing. We are a mobile service provider and travel through the city centre identifying those in need. Individuals in need are also able to approach us for help and support. We do not receive any government funding or any other organisation. We rely totally on donations from members of the public and local businesses. We are a member of Fareshare and receive surplus food collections. We work alongside other charities and support one another to achieve the common goal.