Community round-up: Goold Estates backs Black Country Foodbank

Goold Estates has announced plans to further its support for a West Midlands food bank that is helping vulnerable individuals and families in crisis.

The property investment and development company has made the first of four quarterly financial donations to Black Country Foodbank, based in Brierley Hill.

Funds will support the food bank’s operational costs and enable it to buy items of food, toiletries and protective clothing for its volunteers.

It extends Goold Estates’ relationship with the charity which began last year and is part of the company’s focused approach to community giving.

Graham Bell, charity manager at Goold Estates, said: “We are concentrating our community activity on a small number of charities, which will enable us to commit to deepening relationships and supporting good causes over a longer period of time. It will also help our partner charities in planning many of the activities they wish to deliver this year.

“Black Country Foodbank does an incredible job on behalf of people in our local area who need a helping hand. It not only provides vital supplies of food and toiletries but its volunteers also take time to talk to people and signpost them to other local partner projects that can be of benefit to them.”

Formed in 2006, Black Country Foodbank serves local communities facing job losses and rising food and energy costs, by giving people important breathing space at a time of great need. Vouchers are issued to organisations that encounter people in hardship and can be exchanged for food at one of Black Country Foodbank’s local distribution points.Its chief executive officer, Jen Coleman, said: “This is an amazing gesture and we are truly humbled. We have been through a tumultuous time over the last couple of years, but even with the challenges the pandemic has thrown our way, most of our food banks have been able to stay open and serve thousands of people.

“Financial donations are vital to the work that we do. Without our financial donors we would not be able to run and maintain the vans, put the lights on at the warehouse and pay rent on our building.”

If you would like to support Black Country Foodbank, please visit its Just Giving page: click here

In brief: Support for Ukrainian appeal and regional sports and recreation

Other charity work in 2022 so far

• The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is increasingly dire and desperate, with three million people having fled their homes and countless others still trapped. When a major emergency occurs overseas, the Disasters Emergency Committee brings together 15 UK charities to raise funds for an effective, coordinated response. Goold Estates has made a donation to one of those charities – the British Red Cross – through its Ukraine Crisis Appeal, with funds providing vital supplies such as food, water, first aid and medicine.
  
• A charity which provides educational and recreational activities for disadvantaged people is to benefit from a series of charitable donations over the next twelve months. The Albrighton Trust will receive four quarterly donations from Goold Estates during 2022, supporting its delivery of angling, gardening, woodcraft and creative sessions. The charity, which is based on Blue House Lane in Albrighton, specialises in working with people disadvantaged by physical and learning difficulties or ill health.
  
• Goold Estates’ will feature on the kit of one of the region’s leading hockey clubs this year, after agreeing to sponsorship of one of its junior teams. The Badgers of Bloxwich Hockey Club will display the Goold Estates logo after a donation supported the purchase of new hockey shirts. Bloxwich Hockey Club was established in 1903 and has over 100 regular playing members turning out in competitive matches at weekends. Its established junior set-up welcomes young people from across the region to have fun and learn new skills.
  
• Staff and volunteers at a Dudley-based charity for disabled people are set to benefit from the delivery of new IT equipment following a donation by Goold Estates. Disability in Action provides tailored support programmes for adults in the borough with physical or sensory disabilities.