Steps to Recovery We just wanted to include some photos of the work we're supporting 15 churches with in their local communities. This is still essential food provision but some churches are also helping families to move on from food parcels. There are so many wonderful stories emerging: Susan is a single grandparent who is retired and started attending a church holiday club because she was struggling to look after a lively grandchild who's mum was spending time in hospital looking after a very sick daughter. She wanted help with entertaining her grandson and was also struggling to afford to feed him and herself. I visited the holiday club when Susan was there, she was about to leave as the grandson wanted to go home. She was obviously disappointed and looked shattered. However, one of the volunteers encouraged the boy to go back in and join in a game and a church leader appeared with a bag of groceries for the family. Susan was able to sit and chat with another parent and I heard her saying how grateful she was for the support and what a relief it was to have both the food and help with looking after her grandson.
We have a small amount of funding left so please contact us if you need help with half term or Christmas holiday provision
We have been updating our Filling the Gap resource pack with lots of new ideas and guidance gathered from churches who deliver this initiative. Click on the image to take a look and let us know if if you think we have missed anything. We would love more churches to be delivering holiday food and activities and are planning an event for you to find out more about what's involved if you are thinking of joining our family! Please let us know if you are interested in attending; info@tltogether.org.uk
These funding opportunities may be of interest to you: Asda Foundation: Bringing Communities Back Together Fund - Phase 2: This fund aims to reunite communities, celebrate togetherness, and support groups as Coronavirus restrictions begin to ease across the UK. Through the Bringing Communities Back Together fund, grants of between £250 and £1,000 are available to either get activities back on track such as gardening clubs, lunch clubs and recreational activities; or hold a get-together event such as a welcome back party or community celebration; or a combination of the two. Applications forms are available from Asda stores and applicants have until the 1st November 2021 to submit their applications in store to an Asda Community Champion.https://www.asdafoundation.org/how-to-apply Volant Trust Covid-19 Response Fund: The Volant Trust is accepting applications from registered charities, community interest companies, community organisations or social enterprises that demonstrate a strong focus on alleviating social deprivation and helping vulnerable groups who have been particularly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Funding is available to support running and core costs as well as for medical equipment and the production or distribution of PPE will also be considered. The closing date for applications is the 31st December 2021.https://www.volanttrust.org/how-to-apply-covid-19/
We were delighted to be able to use some of our funding from the Cheshire Community Foundation to provide online training in Food Safety level 2 for 45 people from 15 churches. We were responding to feedback from churches that the training was needed to enable them to start re-opening cafes, Places of Welcome and to continue providing hot meals to families during school holidays. Please do let us know if you have any training requirements, if we have enough interest we will try to arrange it for you.
We very much appreciate your prayers for our work and would ask you please to pray for the following:
That churches would be able to build meaningful relationships with the families they encounter through provision of food and activities
That the TLT Board would receive God's wisdom and guidance as we meet on November 11th to spend a day thinking about the development of our work
That God would bless our communities with sufficient resources so that people 'may have life, and have it to the full' John 10 vs 10
