Our Plymouth at Christmas
This Christmas in Plymouth many people will be struggling to make ends meet as they try and pay for presents on top of the usual food and energy bills.
The Plymouth Fairness Commission estimated there are around 14,000 households in Plymouth living in fuel poverty, while Plymouth Foodbank saw over 8,000 users in 2013/14 and our soup runs provided over 23,000 meals in the same period.
Plymouth was selected as one of seven cities to take part in the Cities of Service initiative. Funded by Nesta and the Cabinet Office, the scheme aims to improve local communities through volunteering, and in Plymouth is known as ‘Our Plymouth’ with a focus on tackling fuel and food poverty.
The scheme was launched in Plymouth on 21st October 2014 and through Tamar Grow Local, has so far supplied 130 portions of veg to be used in the city soup runs and provided 245 veg portions to food banks. The first Energy Champions received training earlier this month and so far we have 44 Our Plymouth volunteers.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cities of Service Ambassador for Plymouth, said: “Christmas is traditionally a time of giving so this is the perfect opportunity to get involved and give your time by volunteering for Our Plymouth.
“The winter can be a particularly difficult time for many people, many are struggling to pay bills, heat their homes and afford good healthy food. While many people enjoy Christmas, it does bring added financial pressure to many people and for some it is simply unaffordable.
“The Plymouth Fairness Commission identified that ‘heating and eating’ were priorities for the City. Our Plymouth, which is the local name for our Cities of Service initiative, aims to help address these issues through volunteering.
“The Our Plymouth volunteer scheme is going from strength to strength and we currently have 44 volunteers supporting our Grow, Share Cook and Energy Champions schemes.
“Grow, Share, Cook volunteers are growing, cooking and sharing fresh fruit and vegetables, while Energy Champions will be talking to local residents about making their homes more energy efficient and saving money on their bills.
“So if you want to get involved with Our Plymouth and give something back to the local community, there is no better time.”
Simon Platten, Project Manager for Tamar Grow Local said: “Our Plymouth is helping increase access to fresh, healthy and locally grown vegetables across the city. In the new year we will be developing sites around Plymouth with Our Plymouth volunteers to grow veg for the scheme and to supply those in food poverty with the knowledge, space and resources to grow their own food and to receive a regular supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. We hope by the end of 2015 that hundreds of households across the city will be seeing both the health and economic benefits of eating more fresh veg as a result of the Grow, Share, Cook project.”
The two projects work as follows:
Heating (Energy Champions) – With nearly 14,000 households in fuel poverty, our Energy Champions aims to address this by recruiting and training volunteer energy champions in targeted neighbourhoods to:
• Help people save money by identifying the best supplier for them and helping them switch
• Help people to save money by implementing energy saving measures.
Eating (Grow, Share, Cook) - Plymouth Foodbank has seen over 8,000 users in 2013/14 and our soup runs provided over 23,000 meals in the same period with more young people and women now using them than ever before. Our Grow, Share, Cook project will address the increase in food poverty in our city by:
• Increasing the number of volunteers engaged in growing fresh fruit and vegetables,
• Sharing it and assisting people with cooking it
• Increasing the quantity of food grown and distributed locally
• Improving the distribution of food to people who most need it
• Developing and delivering food awareness and cooking sessions.
Anyone who wants to get involved with Cities of Service in Plymouth can contact Darin Halifax on 01752 205446 or email darin.halifax@plymouth.org.uk or you can also register at www.ourplymouth.co.uk
