A Torbay community interest company which takes a grassroots approach to tackle problems caused by poverty has been awarded a £500 grant from Tesco as part of a £2m scheme to support local charities and community groups responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Punk Against Poverty CIC helps local communities to work together to support each other through difficult times. It was set up to help local people get the support they needed quickly and without any of the usual barriers to accessing help.
The organisation runs a number of projects across Torbay to support local people, including a network of Punk Pantries, mini food banks which provide free food and essential supplies to anyone in need at any time, day or night.
Punk Against Poverty CIC also runs a free school uniform bank in conjunction with fellow community interest company Re4orm, and – during lockdown – has been supplying activity packs to local children to help keep them amused while they are stuck at home. It has also just opened a charity shop.
The £500 grant has been used to expand the network of Punk Pantries and supply food and other essential items to them, and also to buy supplies to be included in the activity packs for kids.
Steffi Rox, director of Punk Against Poverty CIC, said:
“We wanted to build a community of people who felt engaged to help themselves and others, something which has been really important at what has been a challenging time for us all – but especially for those who are vulnerable or facing poverty.
“Far too often, people have to jump through ridiculous hoops to get help, at the very time when they may be least capable of doing so. We want to make it easy for people to get the help they need, when they need it, and we have lots of plans for the future to continue to expand what we do.
“We would like to thank Tesco for supporting us to carry on our work, and would encourage other organisations to apply for help too.”
Tesco has received more than 3,000 applications for grants of £500 from groups and charities to its Bags of Help COVID-19 Community Fund. The fund is part of a £30m package Tesco recently announced that aims to support as many groups as possible across the country with grants of £500. This includes women’s refuges, foodbanks, hospices, homeless charities, social isolation groups, schools, charities supporting the elderly and local authorities. The application and payment process is simple to provide support quickly to these important causes.
Any groups that would benefit from this funding are encouraged to apply here. The process is managed through our partner charity Groundwork’s website. www.tescobagsofhelp.org.uk
Tesco’s Head of Community Claire De Silva said:
“There are so many people facing such uncertainty at the moment, so the Bags of Help grants we are able to provide will help ease the strain where it’s needed.”
Graham Duxbury, national CEO of Groundwork, added:
“There are so many people facing such uncertainty at the moment, so the Bags of Help grants we are able to provide will help ease the strain where it’s needed.”
