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A North Tyneside food redistribution project is improving its recipe for success with the help of a four-figure grant from Newcastle Building Society.
St Paul’s Community Partnership in Willington Quay runs a weekly FairShare scheme, where food donated by local retailers and collected from a range of other local sources is made available for people in need across the community to collect free of charge from its George Street centre.
The partnership has been increasing the range of products available via the FairShare scheme, with toys, toiletries and baby clothes recently being added to the list.
With limited storage space available, the charity was struggling to organise so many generous donations and risked losing track of all available items.
But now, thanks to a £1,000 grant provided through the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation, St Paul’s has been able to buy a series of sturdy metal storage units which have allowed the room to be properly organised and made it easier for food products to be made available in date order, so that nothing goes out of date without being used.
Founded in 2009, St Paul’s Community Partnership was set up to build on the work done by the clergy and parishioners at St Paul’s Church and is responsible for a diverse range of different community improvement projects.
Rev Sue McCormack of St Paul’s Community Partnership says: “The St Paul’s Centre is the only community building in Willington Quay and we try to make as much use of it as we can to the benefit of local residents.
“We originally started our FairShare project before the pandemic, and as it was clear that local demand for it was both significant and growing, we brought it back as soon as we safely could.
“Our ethos is ‘take what you need, give what you can’ – anyone in the local community can come along to pick up whatever they need to keep them going, and if we see a need arising for specific items, we try to do what we can to meet it.”