Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) has donated much needed funds to five local charities and organisations across the city, who support the local community all year round, not just at Christmas time.
This year, PCH has made five donations of £1,000 each to local charities Plymouth Foodbank, Provide Devon, Jeremiah's Journey, Devon and Cornwall Food Action (DCFA) and Southway Community Group CIC who provide valuable support to some of our residents and others in need across Plymouth, and into Devon and Cornwall.
The organisations and charities provide support in number of ways through offering bereavement support to children, young people and their parents/carers (Jeremiah’s Journey), through a bustling community hub in Southway (Southway Community Group CIC) and providing food for people affected by financial and food hardships (Plymouth Foodbank, Provide Devon and DCFA).
This month Jonathan Cowie, our Chief Executive Officer, Michelle Dawson, Executive Director of Homes & Communities and Nick Jackson, Executive Director of Business Services & Development have been visiting the charities to meet with their staff to hear how important donations are to sustain their work within the community.
Jonathan Cowie said: “We have seen first-hand the impact that the cost-of-living crisis is continuing to have on our residents and local people in our city, and through our donations we hope to support local charities and community groups who are feeling the strain as more people require support from their services.
“At PCH we already have links to the charities we have donated to, and the donations will hopefully help sustain their continued efforts as the charity sector continues to face financial uncertainty.”
Maddie Bailey, Assistant Manager at Provide Devon, said: “Provide Devon is a crisis food charity that operates with referral agents only. We have been working closely with PCH for many years, and we are delighted that they have chosen our charity for their Christmas donation. This donation will make a huge difference to many families over the Christmas period. Thank you!”
Michelle Dawson visited both Plymouth Foodbank and Jeremiah’s Journey, who were delighted with the news of the donation.
Andrew Denham, Plymouth Foodbank Co-ordinator, said: “Your kind and very generous donation will make such a big difference in supporting so many people in hardship across our city.
“The cost-of-living situation has resulted in us seeing a big increase in demand for our services, however the jump in food prices means that food donations are significantly down. This is why your donation will make such a difference as we move towards Christmas and a very busy winter period. We anticipate supporting over 2,000 people (18,000 meals) this December alone, with people needing so much more support into the challenging colder months of January and February. In the last 12 months we have supported 13,697 people (9,551 Adults & 4,146 Children), providing 123,273 meals, and we can only do this because of your generous support.
“On behalf of everyone at the Plymouth Foodbank may I say a huge thank you for your help and ongoing support - it means so much.”
John Naismith, Supporter Engagement Manager at Jeremiah’s Journey, said: “Thank you very much to Plymouth Community Homes for their kind donation to Jeremiah’s Journey. This is a lovely way for us to end the year and will certainly be of tremendous help to the children, young people and families that we support.
“Jeremiah’s Journey has been providing our service across Plymouth and the surrounding areas since 1996 and as we mark our 30th anniversary next year we do so having never received any commissioned or statutory funding. Support such as this is essential to ensuring that we can continue to do so. Thank you!”
Nick Jackson visited Southway Community Group CIC earlier this month, where he was met by many local residents who utilise the services provided by the group alongside Jenny and Karen who work there.
Karen Stewart, Southway Wellbeing Hub Advisor (Southway Community Group CIC), said: “Plymouth Community Homes’ Christmas donation is greatly appreciated and will directly support our ongoing work within the Southway community. Their commitment to local groups like ours makes a real impact. Thank you!”
Our final donation is to DCFA who we’ll be meeting next week. Margret Head on behalf of Devon and Cornwall Food Action, said: “This generous donation from Plymouth Community Homes will help us provide vital food supplies to those most in need during the festive season and into the new year. We are incredibly grateful for your support in helping us fight food poverty and reduce waste.”
This week we are also supporting Provide Devon through our staff Feed the Foodbank Christmas Donation Week, with staff donating items for their Winter Fundraising Appeal. We continue to be inspired by the collections and donations that our staff have been involved in, both during work time and in their personal time and we will be meeting with Provide Devon again just before Christmas to present them with our donations.
