Oldham | Oldham Chapel
One Oldham Fund Cost of Living Crisis Support Grant funds Christmas Day Celebration
In December of last year Oldham Chapel held a hugely successful Christmas Day Celebration for more than forty people in their community which was made possible, in part, with funding from our One Oldham Fund Cost of Living Crisis Support Grant.
Rev. Bob Pounder contacted Action Together with a funding application as they wanted to support the members of their community who they knew were facing isolation, loneliness or struggling to afford a festive meal. Their project idea aimed to alleviate these issues by providing a Christmas Day Celebration where everyone was welcome which would counter the issues around social isolation, increase confidence and self-esteem, and provide friendship to the attendees.
The funding application was successful, and Oldham Chapel received £1,000 to ensure that, not only could they provide a Christmas lunch, but Christmas gifts as well. You can see from the images below that the event was a great success with more than forty local people attending and benefitting from the community-focused celebration.
Rochdale | Blossom in NW CIC
Rochdale Communities Fund Seed Fund helps new CIC, Blossom NW get up and running with £500 funding
With an interest in combatting food waste and working with communities, Paula Foster wanted to develop an organisation that brought together her lifelong ambition of providing cooking demonstrations, and teaching local communities to cook both nutritious and environmentally friendly meals using surplus food.
As well as combatting food waste and helping to divert unused items away from landfill, the focus for this project was to bring communities together from across Rochdale to share ideas, build relationships and learn new skills to take forward in life. Through hands-on cooking demonstrations, participants learn practical strategies for utilising surplus food effectively, thereby empowering them to make positive changes in their own lives and communities.
Meals cooked or prepared during the sessions are distributed to attendees for personal consumption or delivery to homeless individuals and families. Blossom NW's initiative directly addresses food insecurity by providing nutritious meals to those in need.
Paula Foster, who is the creator behind this new CIC, will initially operate one day a week, working collaboratively with the food banks across the Rochdale North and South area. The £500 will help her formally register as a CIC, purchase some start-up equipment, and pay for Public Liability insurance which the group will need to ensure they are operating within Health & Safety guidelines.
Julie, our Community Development Worker, will continue to work with Paula throughout this project – and has already suggested some potential links to both the Food Solutions Network, as well as other member organisations who use food and cooking as a method to connect communities and empower individuals.
Paula Foster, who is Director for the Blossom NW CIC says:
"The support that I have received from Julie has been amazing from the beginning. Julie's warmth, patience and passion has helped me throughout and I cannot thank her enough for making my dream of becoming Blossom in NW, be a reality."
Tameside | The Wig and Scarf Room
Seed funding helps Stalybridge group providing bespoke wig and headscarf fitting services
The Wig and Scarf Room had originally been located in the Cancer Warriors building in Stalybridge, working out of a small room supporting people with hair loss from cancer treatment, and people who have any diagnosis causing hair loss. Unfortunately, Cancer Warriors closed the building and The Wig and Scarf Room were faced with having to find alternative premises.
They met Jayne from Academy HQ who kindly offered the group a free room to use on Friday mornings, which was fantastic as The Wig and Scarf Room do not charge for their service, and rely entirely on donations.
Community Development Worker Jon King, from Action Together was already working with Academy HQ and, after hearing their story, arranged a meeting with The Wig and Scarf Room to offer them support as they had no equipment, or materials to make the room into a person-centred space.
The group needed a table, some new leaflets, a music system, tablecloths and some picture frames to highlight their fantastic support. Jon King from Action Together offered to help initially with a seed fund of up to £150, which would cover all the items listed to help support and create a warm and welcoming environment.
Jon also discussed looking at sustainability of the group, and looking at becoming a constituted group to enable them to apply for funding to buy more essential wigs to support their local community. The meeting was very successful, and paperwork was sent to the group to discuss moving forward.
Thanks to Academy HQ and the support of Action Together, The Wig and Scarf Room are continuing to support the community in a unique way, offering a free service which can support so many vulnerable people in the community. The group are now moving forward to become structured, looking at a more sustainable model to apply for grants to enhance their work even more.
Thanks to this seed funding the new space has a very calming atmosphere which helps ease anxiety - trying wigs on can be very upsetting and stressful for a person who is receiving treatment, or has a hair loss condition.
