Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) has donated much needed funds to five local charities and organisations across the city, who are working hard to keep up with demand as people and families continue to be affected by financial and food hardships.
We have seen first-hand the impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on our residents and local people in our city, and through our donations we hope to support charities who are feeling the strain as more people struggle to access food and the services that they need.
This year, PCH has made five donations of £1,000 each to local charities Plymouth Foodbank, Provide Devon, Keyham Green Places (KGP), Plymouth Football Boot Bank and Devon and Cornwall Food Action (DCFA) who provide valuable support to some of our residents and others in need across Plymouth, and into Devon and Cornwall.
Jonathan Cowie, our Chief Executive visited Plymouth Foodbank, to meet with their staff to hear how important donations are to sustain their work within the community.
Jonathan said: “As part of our charity donations this year, I was delighted to pay a visit to Plymouth Foodbank at The Oasis Project. We are glad to hear that the donations will be of great assistance to the charities and the residents they support, to allow them to continue to support the people of Plymouth over the Christmas period and beyond, rather than worrying about funding.
“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.”
Mark Haydon, Lead Manager at Plymouth Foodbank, said: “At Plymouth Foodbank, we see people in all sorts of situations. From losing a job due to sickness to nurses not having enough money at the end of the month to feed their family. Ex-service men feeling let down, to folks on benefits not able to cover the cost of living.
“This money will help us reach these people and show them that many people in our city care about them and value them. To have nothing at any time of year is hard, but now on the run up to Christmas makes it even harder. This amazing gift will help those people. Thank you so much.”
Luke Riggs, the Founder of Plymouth Football Boot Bank visited Plumer House to meet with Phil Burgoyne, Interim Head of Neighbourhoods at PCH where we shared the good news of the donation.
Luke said: “It’s absolutely amazing to receive this act of kindness from Plymouth Community Homes. It will make so much difference to the work we do in the local community suppling free used football boots to financially struggling families within the city and will help to keep our free community training sessions going, which is open to all kids, many who live in PCH properties.
Luke Riggs & Phil Burgoyne
“We are blessed to have the on-going support of PCH, and they have gone above and beyond by donating this cheque.
“Huge thanks from everyone at Plymouth Football Boot Bank and all our youth members.”
We were delighted to also hear from Provide Devon, KGP and Devon and Food Action (DCFA) following the £1,000 donations to their charities.
Steve Bailey, Operations and Charity Manager at Provide Devon, said: “On behalf of the recipients of our parcels, Trustees, and our volunteers I would like to thank Plymouth Community Homes for their wonderful donation of £1000.
“As we come to the end of another year of hardship for many, we are absolutely delighted to receive the generous donation which will see us continue to provide much needed and essential food items for those experiencing food insecurity across Plymouth. Each year we have seen a marked growth in referrals and Provide has been able to meet that demand head on, for many, giving immediate respite to being hungry. Your support and donation will help maintain Provides mission to ensure people across Plymouth have access to healthy, nutritious food at a time of crisis.
“Once again, I thank you for supporting the essential work Provide Devon undertakes.”
Jennifer Etheridge, Chair of Trustees at Keyham Green Places Foodbank, said: “Thank you so very much to Plymouth Community Homes for their donation. What a great surprise. We are delighted and grateful for their support, which will enable us to help families in need this Christmas and throughout the winter.”
Alan Dunne, Chairman at Devon and Cornwall Food Action, said: “Thank you to Plymouth Community Homes for their very kind donation. We will be able to purchase hygiene products that are becoming very scarce in provision for the community via public donation.
“This donation will help fill them voids, with period poverty being one of them. Merry Christmas to PCH & best wishes for the New Year.”
This week PCH is also supporting Four Greens Community Trust (FGCT) through our Feed the Foodbank Christmas Donation Week, and our staff are donating tins to help them to reach their winter appeal target of 50,000 tins.
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 sharing a full total of tins collected just before Christmas.
