22 Dec Essex community pub uses grant funding to thank team of volunteers for tireless efforts in 2020
A community run pub has used grant funding to supply hampers to their team of volunteers as a Christmas ‘thank you’.
The Never Say Die community pub in Jaywick, Clacton-on-Sea, is providing food banks, clothing banks, baby banks and hygiene banks as well as school uniform drives, lunches for children over term breaks and organising events to bring the community together.
The community owned company successfully applied for a grant from the Hopkins Plunkett Communities Scheme and is using the funding to supply hampers to their team of volunteers.
Rosina Herriott – Director of Jaywick Sands Revival CIC, said: “What better time than at Christmas to say a big ‘thank you’ to our volunteers with a little gift for all the amazing things they’ve done and people they’ve helped. So each volunteer will receive a goody bag of treats to share with their loved ones and have a brighter Christmas knowing their valued and wanted.”
The Hopkins Plunkett Communities Scheme has been handing out grants of up to £1,000 to ensure community groups can support those who need their services to ensure brighter Christmas and the New Year.
With the enforced closure due to lockdown periods, and now reopening under tight Government guidelines it has been an extremely challenging year for community organisations including pubs, shops and bakeries.
The Hopkins Plunkett Communities Scheme is available to not only provide grant funding for a selection of successful applicants but also to provide free support and expertise from the charity’s central support service and network of advisors.
James Hopkins, Executive Chairman and Founder of Hopkins Homes, said: “It is so pleasing to see community organisations benefitting from grants from the Hopkins Plunkett Communities Scheme so they can help people in their community at this time of year. We hope the funding goes some way to ensuring community organisations can continue to adapt how they need to operate to allow then to support those people who rely on them so much, not least during these winter months.”
The Hopkins Plunkett Communities Scheme has focused on getting one-to-one support to community groups since its launch in June. This can be on a range of matters including governance guidance, cash flow advice and business planning, volunteer recruitment and management, accessing funding and navigating government support schemes.
James Alcock, Plunkett’s Chief Executive, said: “Community businesses can and do make a huge difference to people’s lives, and we can already see from the grants we have given out so far that they are going to be used to bring some real Christmas cheer to many people, including those who are experiencing loneliness and isolation. We are able to do this because of the generosity of Hopkins Homes, and I thank them for understanding the importance of these community owned and run businesses.”
Groups in the early stages of setting up a community business and established community businesses are now able to apply for the grants.
