Leyland community group seeking new home to become official charity

Sophie Wilding and the Community Network and Outreach Service are looking for a multi-functional Leyland venue with an office and plenty of storage space to create a support hub.

The group, which currently provides Covid-19 food parcels to vulnerable people and is based at the Second Leyland Scouts' hut in Eden Street, will introduce new sessions, such as sewing groups, basic cooking skills, adult jewellery making, children's arts and crafts, youth talks on topics like knife crime and grooming, and help for adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

Sophie and her team of eight volunteers also aim to tackle period poverty and provide weekly food parcels to struggling families during the school summer holidays.

She said: "We're concerned that as businesses go back to normality, there will be a lot of redundancies. There's that gap where someone is still on furlough or has just been made redundant and won't qualify for financial support.

"We also plan to provide sanitary products to girls and women who can't afford to buy them because they need to prioritise food.

"We want to be inclusive to everyone so when things are back to normal, we also hope to offer OAP afternoon tea to help combat loneliness, which seems to have heightened during lock-down."

The group, which receives referrals for support for vulnerable people from GPs and schools, is working towards becoming an official charity but cannot submit their application without its own premises.

"It's a catch-22 situation," said Sophie, who adds that the group's volunteers are nonetheless working tirelessly to keep the services going despite the difficult circumstances.

"Many of them are key workers and they are absolutely amazing. They have made this group possible. They're using every single day they have off work to help, which is amazing, especially as they are doing such high-pressured jobs at this difficult time."

The team has so far delivered at least 421 care parcels, 1,800 staff snack packs, 750 face masks to key workers, 500 uniform wash and care bags to front-line staff and homelessness units and 2,800 tins of biscuits to various services.

If you are interested in running a group or service, know of any available venues or would like to donate funds or essential items like toiletries, sanitary products or non-perishable food, please contact the Community Network and Outreach Service on Facebook.