A Black Country organisation that is helping struggling families to feed their families through the Coronavirus outbreak has received a cash boost of £3,000 from the region’s famous Richardson family business.
Friends of Grange Park is working with local charity Loaves and Fishes. They have developed an innovative Social Supermarket, that is a step away from a traditional foodbank. The Friends group has been able to make use of it to support a number of families who would ordinarily have benefitted from a Holiday Cafe project which is run during school holidays.
Councillors in St James Ward have supported the Friends of Grange Park to develop the Holiday Cafe project, working with a network of local cafes to combat the very real issue of school holiday hunger. However, with the country now in lockdown the situation has become even more challenging and so their emphasis has shifted to providing basic food deliveries for families on the breadline, through a food voucher exchange with the Social Supermarket.
Loaves ‘N’ Fishes is a Dudley based charity, supporting people who live in poverty across the Black Country. They provide emergency support to families and individuals providing a lifeline for thousands of people.
Councillor Cathryn Bayton explained:
“Through talking to headteachers we identified nearly 200 children who needed our support to have a hot meal during school holidays and we had a great network of local cafe's supporting the project. However, because of the Coronavirus lockdown now all the cafes are closed, and schools are suspended apart from for children of keyworkers. We were really concerned about the families we would have supported so we teamed up with Loaves and Fishes.
“Now we are distributing £3 food vouchers which can be exchanged for one shopping delivery a week, made up of 20 essential items to keep some of our poorest families going. This includes fresh fruit and veg, milk, bread, meat and canned goods, as well as culturally appropriate food. The donation from the Richardson family is an amazing gesture and will literally save some of our most vulnerable residents from going hungry. We are hugely grateful.”
The donation has come from the Richardson Brothers Foundation, the charitable arm of the Oldbury-based family business that has grown to become one of the UK’s leading property developers and a multinational operation with investments around the world.
Martyn Richardson, from the Richardson Brothers Foundation, said:
“We know that these are really tough times for so many people and when Councillor Bayton got in touch we were happy to make a contribution. The family business was established in the Black Country and the people here hold a special place in our hearts.
“We recognise there is still a need to make sure that there is regular supply of food stuffs so the charity can continue its vital work and we hope that our donation will go some way to helping that happen.”
For more information or to support Loaves ‘N’ Fishes’ visit www.loavesnfishes.co.uk
For more information:
Jan Jennings - call 07074 073731. email: jan.jennings@rclpartners.co.uk