Hinckley and Rugby Building Society Community Foundation

Feed the Hungry

Feed the Hungry (FTH) is a humanitarian aid charity that provides emergency food and support in 28 countries around the world whilst also having a number of projects in the UK.

Over the last 3 years, Feed the Hungry has established a number of ‘Community Pantries’ (Community Supermarkets) based in Warwickshire and Leicestershire. 

In March 2022 the charity converted an old St Johns’s Ambulance into a mini supermarket on wheels. The van (known as Lazurus’) carries chilled dairy and meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and ambient goods, as well as some cleaning products, toiletries, and feminine hygiene products. The van attends a variety of locations, allowing the team to provide the social and support element of the pantry, including citizens’ advice provision.

The Hinckley and Rugby funding will support the renovation of a second vehicle, an old mobile library, which will be transformed and used in new areas, such as Rugby, with the pantry style food provision, supporting those facing the ever-rising cost of living. 

Carers Trust

Their highly skilled team are passionate about supporting and enhancing the lives of Young Carers throughout Warwickshire.

There to listen when carers want to talk, providing information and advice, and to arrange trips and activities to give young people a break from their caring responsibilities. The Carers Trust are there to support young carers through any troubles whether they be at school, home or elsewhere.

The Trust will be using the grant to deliver a project for young carers in Rugby, providing respite, fostering social connections, and promoting personal development.

Green Towers

Green Towers is a charity youth club that provide physical and mental well-being activities to over 5000 children per year.

They have a climbing wall, BMX track, skate park, 3G football pitches, a dance and music studio, a gym and a large sports hall, and are proud to say they are accessible to all children using their facilities.

In the summer holidays Green Towers open for three weeks to provide a summer club for the local children. The club provides extra activities on top of the normal schedule along with lunch and breakfast. Places are free for children on free school meals and only £1.50 per day for paying places. The Society’s donation will supplement delivery costs for the club benefitting children who experience many disadvantages, including poverty.

Hinckley Homeless Group

Hinckley Homeless Group runs a supported accommodation (Lawrence House) for young homeless people, and a three-bedroom move-on property for those ready for independence but in need of specific support such as budgeting or with mental health.

Lawrence House is staffed 24 hours a day and has 12 bedrooms providing support for both male and females who can live at the facility for up to 2 years. The aim of Lawrence House is to be a safe and friendly environment in which one to one support is given to enable residents to learn independence, access help and advice and engage in meaningful occupation, giving them an opportunity to turn their lives around.

The Society grant will contribute to the salary of a Project Worker, who will be assigned to a young person to help them overcome the trauma of homelessness and address the challenges they face. They help develop essential life skills including cooking and budgeting, and engage with education, training, and work, developing confidence. When they are ready, each young person is helped to make a successful move-on and support is ongoing.

Stand Against Violence

Stand Against Violence (SAV) work in communities throughout the UK to give people a chance to live in a world without violence. The charity was established in 2005 in response to the murder of 17-year-old Lloyd Fouracre, who was beaten to death by a group of drunken youths.

The charity’s core work is within educational settings such as schools and sports and youth organisations, equipping young people with the skills they need to handle and avoid potentially violent situations. This is done through age-appropriate anti-violence workshops covering topics such as county lines, grooming and knife crime, as well as practical personal safety and lifesaving first aid lessons.

Life skills training, social development and supporting high-risk adolescents to fulfil their education and goals are effective ways to end violence. The direct beneficiaries from the work of SAV is with young people, however the effects can be felt by others as the work contributes towards creating safer communities.

The Foundation grant will be used to deliver at least 10 half-day anti-violence workshops in our local area targeting knife crime, anti-violence, gangs, and grooming.

Bodie Hodges

The Bodie Hodges Foundation is a local Leicestershire based charity that supports families who have been bereaved of a child. The charity was established in 2013 by Nick and Donna Hodges after the death of their ten-month-old son Bodie. They wanted to offer support to other bereaved families as their experience highlighted how isolating losing a child was. The charity has now become well-regarded regionally for its sensitive, effective professional one-to-one bereavement services and peer support groups to adults, children, and young people in their darkest hour of grief.

Their vision is to give hope to families bereaved of a child by providing a range of specialist services that encourage them to rebuild and remember. All services are free of charge to ensure that no bereaved families are left to grieve alone.

The funds donated by the Society will be used to deliver 12 ‘Creative Grief’ workshops focused on improving the mental and physical health and wellbeing of bereaved mums by giving them the opportunity to come together and share their grief which helps to reduce isolation and build resilience.

Lutterworth & Area Hygiene Bank

Lutterworth & Area Hygiene Bank distributes hygiene products to community partner charities and schools to help reduce the hygiene poverty experienced by those of locally.

Hygiene poverty is rising, alongside food and fuel poverty, due to the cost of living and inflation crises. Since 2022, an additional 1.1 million people have been pulled into hygiene poverty nationally. It disproportionately affects the most vulnerable across all age groups, undermines mental and physical health, limits potential, blocks opportunity and causes untold misery on a daily basis.

The project collects public donations and distributes them to community partners including Lutterworth, Rugby and Hinckley food banks, John Wycliffe Primary School, Hinckley School, Lutterworth Family Hub and Home Start. Since their launch in February 2023, they have distributed over 3 ½ tonnes of products such as shampoo, body wash, deodorant, razors, nappies, period products, laundry detergent, toilet rolls and dental care.

The Society’s grant will help towards the rental costs of our storage unit and equipment needed to sort and move products, tote bags in which to distribute products discreetly to end users and for them to purchase less frequently donated products such as laundry detergent, sun cream, shaving gel and moisturiser.