Group working tirelessly to reduce food poverty

THE Christmas season has arrived and many of us will be looking forward to some well-earned rest and time away from work to spend with family and friends.

Whilst this time of year is a great chance to have fun, it’s also important to remember our joint values of responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, and humility.

There are thousands of small acts of kindness seen in our community every day by people inspired to try and make the world a better place.

Re:dish in Reddish is just one example where a group of ordinary people are doing truly extraordinary things.

Re:dish was founded by St Elisabeth’s Priest, Rev Angie Stanton, and local teacher, Phil Arnold, who were made aware of the profound effect of poverty in the Reddish area.

Since then, Re:dish has worked tirelessly across the Reddish area to reduce food poverty, isolation and reduce household debt among the wider community.

This Christmas they are distributing hundreds of toys and dozens of emergency food parcels to families in need through the foodbank.

As well as this crucial lifeline they support those living with dementia and run their own Dementia Friendly Café at St Agnes Church in Reddish.

A key aspect of the success of Re:dish is their use of development staff who coordinate the activities of the ‘hub’, as well as recruiting,

training and managing a host of volunteers, as well as liaising with local stakeholders, and promoting the project.

Re:dish was rewarded for their hard work this year by securing three more years of funding for a community development worker from the Diocese of Manchester, as well as taking on an allotment plot for a growing group, set to start in spring 2018.

On top of all that, the work of Re:dish across Stockport has been recognised recently as the group have been shortlisted for the Community Investment Fund from Stockport Council.

We’d all love to see a world where food banks were not needed. Sadly however, failures by central government mean that poverty continues to rise meaning more and more families across the country need our help – making the continued growth of Re:dish critical for the Reddish community.

Re:dish is entirely reliant on the generosity of the public, whether through donations or by those offering their time so I’d encourage everyone to consider joining.

For more information please visit http://re-dish.org/work-withus/ or contact 0161 487 3370 to find out more.