As part of Locala’s responsibility as a social enterprise, we donated more than £50,000 to food banks across Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Stockport, and Tameside. We donated to the 9 largest food banks across the areas we cover to maximise impact and ensure we support as many people as possible.
Our local communities are at the heart of what we do, so it’s great to be able to support local food banks through this funding and play a little part in ensuring that people get the support they need.
Having donated £20,000 to both The Welcome Centre and Batley Foodbank, we decided to visit them to better understand how the money is being used.
Emma, Fundraising Manager at The Welcome Centre, said:
“This funding from Locala will help us as we purchase food essentials for the next 12 months. We are heading into one of our busiest years, and we are expecting the increase in demand to go up by 40%.”
“In the last twelve months, we’ve given out 360,000 meals worth of food and supported more than 5 and a half thousand people. The scariest thing for us is that children are one of the highest-growing demographics for us, so it’s more than doubled in the last two years and we are now supporting over 600 children per month.”
As one of the largest independent food banks in the UK, the Welcome Centre is unable to operate without the help of volunteers, donations, and fundraisers.
During the cost-of-living crisis, people are using food banks more than ever and they are seen as a vital lifeline in the community.
Claire Jennings, Manager at the Batley Foodbank, said:
“We are so grateful for this donation. It’s helped us to keep buying the food, which we purchase weekly. It’s also helped fund our drivers to get the food to those who need it the most. Without the support of donations, we wouldn’t be able to support those in need.”
“The average price for a food parcel for a single person is £20, and a third of that comes from donations.”
Click here to watch a video from our visit to the Welcome Centre and Batley Foodbank.
A full list of the foodbanks, locations, and donation amounts can be seen below:
| Area | Foodbank | Donation |
|---|---|---|
Kirklees | The Welcome Centre, 15 Lord Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1QB. Registered charity number: 1151282. | £20,000 |
Kirklees | Batley Foodbank, Admiral House, Blakeridge Lane, Batley, WF17 8PD. Registered charity number: 1157520. | £20,000 |
Bradford | Bradford Central Foodbank, The Jubilee Centre, Jermyn Street, Bradford, BD1 4EJ. Registered charity no: 11192346 | £4,000 |
Calderdale | Ebenezer Foodbank, Ebenezer Church, St James Road, Halifax, HX1 1YS. Registered charity no 1134254 | £2,000 |
Calderdale | Todmorden Foodbank, 20 Rochdale Road, Todmorden OL14 7LD. | £2,000 |
| Stockport | Stockport Foodbank, Hazel Grove Baptist Church, Station Street, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 4EX. Registered charity no: 1156261 | £1,500 |
| Tameside | Tameside East Foodbank, Holy Trinity & Christ Church, Corporation Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 2JS. Registered charity no: 1161048 | £750 |
| Tameside | Tameside South and Longdendale, Foodbank Warehouse, Hattersley Baptist Church, Melandra Crescent, Hattersley, SK14 3RB, Registered limited company no 8688131 | £750 |
Locala Health and Wellbeing is set up as a social enterprise, but what does that mean?
Social enterprises do work like traditional businesses but it’s what they do with any profits that sets them apart – reinvesting or donating them to create positive social change.
Social enterprises create employment and reinvest their profits back into their business or the local community. This allows them to tackle social problems, improve people’s life chances, provide training and employment opportunities, support communities and help the environment.
Social enterprises exist in nearly every sector from healthcare to consumer goods to community energy to creative agencies, restaurants to facilities management. Well-known national examples include The Big Issue, Divine Chocolate, and the Eden Project but there are over 80,000 social enterprises throughout the country contributing £24 billion to the economy and employing nearly a million people.
For Locala this gives us the flexibility to tailor our services to meet the needs of our communities - and any financial surplus is re-invested back into supporting patient care.
