IN BRIEF
NORTH WEST COMMUNITY
DIAMOND WINS £1,000
CHARITY DONATION FIT AND FED PROGRAMME
COMBATS ‘HOLIDAY
HUNGER’
A Wirral resident who volunteers with the Charles
Thompson Mission is celebrating after winning a
community hero award and £1,000 donation. Wirral Sport Development brought the Fit and Fed
campaign to Wirral this summer to provide 4,150 free,
nutritious meals and a whole host of different activity
sessions for 220 children and young people.
Swinton Group, the UK’s largest high street insurance broker,
launched a nationwide search as part of its diamond anniversary to
find ten ‘diamonds’ who make a difference in their local communities.
Amy Stanley from the Wirral area has been recognised for her work
with the Charles Thompson Mission which supports the homeless in
the Birkenhead area. She has raised more than £25,000 for the charity
in the last 18 months through overnight sleep-outs and car boot sales.
The Mission was founded in 1892 and provides practical support
with food, clothing and showers as well as access to counselling,
nurses and dentist services. It holds drop in sessions from Monday
to Friday, with between 70-100 people visiting daily. It also offers a
food parcel service along with children’s trips throughout the year
and Christmas parcels for families in need during the festive season.
Amy was presented with her cheque by Swinton Group CEO Gilles
Normand at the insurance broker’s headquarters in Manchester on
Wednesday 23rd August. She commented: “This will make a huge
difference to the Mission. We’re only a small charity which relies
entirely on donations. At the moment, we use a volunteer’s van
to transport and collect donations, so the £1,000 will go towards
purchasing our own van. It’ll also help us to buy essential items such
as clothing, food and toiletries, and contribute towards the costs of
finding accommodation for the homeless.”
The team at Swinton’s headquarters has also organised a collection
of tinned and non-perishable food for the Mission. Gilles Normand,
CEO of Swinton Group, said: “We designed our search for ‘Swinton
Diamonds’ to celebrate local heroes like Amy and the fantastic work
being done across our communities. We hope this donation and
food collection will support the invaluable work that she and the
Mission do to support the homeless. Community spirit is incredibly
important to us at Swinton, so this is our chance to give something
back to those who go the extra mile.”
10 wirrallife.com
Fit and Fed is a nationwide campaign, led by the award-winning
StreetGames charity, to improve the lives of disadvantaged children
and young people at risk of holiday hunger, isolation, and inactivity.
The programme was made possible by gaining external funding
sourced from local initiatives and fundraising events. Wirral Sports
Development is applying for additional funding to sustain and
continue the work carried out this summer for future programmes
and inviting residents and local business to support the Fit and Fed
national programme via its JustGiving page. There are already plans to
continue this work during the October and February half term in the
next school year. The Fit and Fed campaign supports both the physical
and social development of children and young people and gives an
extra helping hand to those in need. The summer programme brought
families from across Birkenhead together as a community to enjoy days
of fun and sport, along with fresh, healthy meals. According to reports,
a third of parents have skipped a meal so that their children could eat
during the school holidays and the UK experiences the highest levels
of food insecurity in all of Europe. The Trussell Trust gave out over
2,600 food parcels between April and September last year with a third
of those going to children. Up to 78% of the households that utilise
food banks have experienced severe food insecurity in the past year,
some going full days without eating. Over the summer, the Fit and Fed
campaign fed 12,000 children across over 100 local UK projects and the
StreetGames charity is hoping to expand this programme even further.
Stacey Addison, Disability Sports Development Officer for Wirral
Sports Development said: “Fit and Fed is an important campaign in
Wirral. In the UK, an estimated three million children experience
holiday hunger over the summer holidays. The programme has been a
great success. The kids have loved it and had a fantastic time meeting
new friends, playing sports and getting a good meal at the same time.”
Those who wish to donate to the Fit and Fed programme can do so via
the Fit and Fed JustGiving page - just Google ‘Fit and Fed JustGiving’.