WINDFALL WILL KEEP SUPPORT COMING
Projects can grow and develop
Proactive Communities’ innovative Blairgowrie and Rattray Independent Food (BaRI) Food Project and Volunteer Support Group have received more than £24,000 to help continue its work.
The food project aims to tackle food poverty, food waste and food education and has grown from the group’s involvement in efforts in the town to support members of the community throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Throughout the first lockdown last year the group provided hundreds of emergency food parcels for families and individuals experiencing economic hardship with food donated from members of the local
community.
They also provided festive food parcels to nearly 60 people in the run-up to Christmas and held two food markets in Rattray Hall where items of food were distributed to members of the public and which proved to be very popular.
Now, working with Perth and Kinross Council, Tesco and the Co-operative’s Fareshare scheme, the BaRI Food project offers a range of different subsidised services available to everyone in the town, including the popular community larders, a discounted food store, a Saturday Lunch Club, meal kits, home cooked prepared meals, free lockdown lunchs for school-aged children in the town and online family time cookery sessions.
Last week, Proactive Communities was told that it has successfully secured funding from three sources to enable it to continue its work in the community.
The Eastern Perthshire Local Action Partnership awarded Proactive Communities £5000 in recognition of its efforts to address issues including poverty, health and social isolation.
In addition, Perth and Kinross Council is supporting the efforts of the food project through purchasing a commercial dishwasher, a display fridge and freezer, reusable containers and soup cups and paper bags for deliveries.
The group – whose team members continued as volunteers to provide the same level of support for the projects, donating over 200 hours in two weeks while waiting for the outcome of the grant applications – also received a one-off donation from the Lansdowne Fund for £1000.
And the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) approved a grant of £18,149 from its Communities Recovery Fund, which was applied for through Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust, to fund Proactive Communities’work until the end of March.
Phil Seymour, chair of the Proactive Communities group, said:“We are absolutely delighted and very grateful to have received these funding boosts to help us continue the work we do in the local community.
“From the work we did last year during the initial lockdown period and the following weeks and months, we know that there is a demand locally for food and support.
“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Proactive Communities has been at the forefront of the local response within Blairgowrie and Rattray, having been involved with development of the town’s Coronavirus Coordination Group and addressing the ongoing and changing needs of the local community as the year progressed.
“Rather than focus on a single element such as food poverty and simply address an issue for a period of time with no longevity, our approach is to develop a sustainable solution – and that doesn’t end when funding ends.
“Grants and donations such as these help support our efforts to help others while at the same time help us to become more sustainable and we very much appreciate it.”