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Council awards extra funds to help Foodbank keep families out of crisis

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is providing extra support to the Hammersmith & Fulham Foodbank (HFFB) to keep more families out of crisis.

The number of food parcels given to families visiting HFFB during 2017 was 9,430 – almost double the number handed out in 2016. Many people who visit the Foodbank also need support with a range of issues, including managing debt, paying bills, applying for benefits and avoiding being made homeless.

“The extra money from the council will fund important new research to identify the main needs of those visiting the service”, said Cllr Sue Fennimore, Deputy Leader of H&F Council.

In addition, the funds will help to cover the Foodbank’s growing running costs and the provision of essential supplies as the number of visitors continues to increase.

Needing help

The rise in the number of families needing help has been largely driven by the government roll-out of Universal Credit, forcing many to wait weeks without any money to pay for basic needs.

“The council’s special grant of £96,000 will ensure the Foodbank can continue to help everyone that comes through their doors, by being able to provide the right help at the right time”, said Cllr Fennimore.

“It is appalling that in this day and age families are being forced to make a decision between paying the bills or eating a proper meal.”

Welcomed

HFFB has welcomed the news of extra council funding which will be phased over a 15-month period.

“We want to ensure that everyone who comes to us is given the right help to get them back on their feet,” said Daphine Aikens, Chief Executive of HFFB.

“Our research project will look at what services our clients need in order to give them the best possible help and advice, and what additional support we can provide in partnership with other local advice organisations,” Daphine added.

How to help

HFFB is still in need of regular donations for food parcels.  You can help by donating any of the following items:

  • Tinned fruit and vegetables
  • Long life juice
  • UHT milk
  • Tinned rice pudding and other non-refrigerated desserts
  • Tinned meat
  • Pasta sauce in jars
  • Toiletries

You can find your closest donation point at H&F Foodbank’s website.

The Foodbank cannot accept any fresh produce. The Foodbank has three sites across the borough and provides other vital services, including two Citizen Advice Bureau advisers who are funded by H&F Council.

For more details, or if you would prefer to make a cash donation to the Foodbank, click here or call 020 7731 3693 or email: info@hammersmithfulham.foodbank.org.uk.

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CORC/Anna Freud Learning Network free eLearning

Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC) is the UK’s leading membership organisation that collects and uses evidence to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. We hold data relating to mental health and wellbeing outcomes of more than 400,000 children and young people in the UK, representing the largest data set of this kind worldwide. For more information about CORC please go to http://www.corc.uk.net

In partnership with the Anna Freud Learning Network, we have recently developed a free eLearning module for children and young people’s mental health services staff, ‘Measuring mental wellbeing to improve the lives of children and young people.’ Suitable for voluntary sector staff, data managers, researchers, administrators and those working in schools, the 3rd sector was one of the sectors that we primarily wanted to target when developing the module. I was hoping that you could please disseminate this opportunity to your members in your next newsletter or bulletin? I’ve attached a graphic and also a text blurb below if preferred:

The Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC), in partnership with the Anna Freud Learning Network, has developed its first ever online eLearning module: ‘Measuring mental wellbeing to improve the lives of children and young people’

This eLearning aims to increase the awareness, understanding and confidence of non-specialist and school staff who support the wellbeing and mental health of children or young people to access the benefits associated with measuring mental wellbeing. This free interactive short course aims to demystify and simplify the whole process of using outcomes and feedback measures to monitor mental wellbeing and is laid out in six easy to follow parts:

  1. Understanding mental wellbeing
  2. Introduction to outcome measures
  3. The benefits of measuring mental wellbeing
  4. Selecting and using measures
  5. Best practice using measures
  6. Using and interpreting data

Outcome measurement has become a focus of funders, commissioners and policy makers, as a tangible and reliable way in which to assess the welfare of children and young people in the care of wellbeing services and schools. The process can also have important benefits for the children and young people themselves as well as for associated professionals, projects, interventions and services.

This course features engaging activities and quizzes to illustrate how staff can choose and use measures to monitor wellbeing and how to analyse wellbeing information to drive improvement and demonstrate effectiveness.

To access the eLearning module go to http://www.corc.uk.net/elearning/ for more information.

Danielle Antha

Projects and Membership Officer

Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC) | Jordan House, 47 Brunswick Place, London, N1 6EB | T: 020 7433 2981 | E: danielle.antha@annafreud.org | www.corc.uk.net

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White City Community Centre for Hire

At White City Community Centre we have a range of rooms for hire at competitive prices. They are ideal for meetings, conferences, AGMs, training and much more.

For more information Click Here or visit the website at: whitecityenterprise.co.uk

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West Brompton Crossing Community Space

Earls Court Partnership Limited, are delighted to bring to your attention a new community space called The Crossing that will be opening early this year as part of the launch of the final phase of the pop-up High Street at West Brompton Crossing.

The Crossing has been designed to be a great space for local organisations, charities and artists to use on a temporary basis, between 2 weeks and a month, to promote their work, project or business within the community.

The use of the space will be completely free of charge, with Earls Court Partnership Limited covering all utilities and wi-fi costs. We hope it will serve as a platform to raise awareness of some of the excellent local organisations and artists that are active in Earls Court. Please refer to the attached flyer for more information.

We are now reaching out to organisations that we hope may be interested in using the community space. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in a tenancy period at The Crossing or have any further questions about the space, please do not hesitate to get in touch with some more information about your organisation.

For more details regarding the space please email us with your name, email, address, phone number & information about your business:
communityshop@westbromptoncrossing.com

Click here for more information

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Free Office Furniture Available

The charity Victim Support, which currently has its head office in Hallam Street, W1, has a significant amount of office furniture available including up to 40 meeting chairs and 40 office chairs, various sizes of filing cabinets and storage cupboards, tables, bins, crockery, clocks and much more. A full list is attached below.

All items must be collected by 28 Feb 2018, so email Liz Moxon if you’re interested.

READ MORE

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Have your say on Children’s and Young People Mental Health Services

The government is asking interested parties for their views on a green paper setting out measures to improve mental health support for children and young people.

The green paper focuses on earlier intervention and prevention, and is especially linked to schools and colleges.

Your input is needed before midday on 2 March 2018.

Click Here to find out more

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Enter for the 2018 Charity awards

Since 2000, the Charity Awards have been Civil Society Media’s annual awards ceremony held to identify, recognise and reward those organisations doing exceptional work in all areas of charitable activity. Any type of project or campaign can be entered and it will be judged by a distinguished panel of sector judges against entries from other organisations in your sector. There are ten categories and an overall winner is taken from the winners of each category. Entry is free and this year the closing date for applications is Friday, 23 February.

Click here to read more

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GLL Sport Foundation – 2018 applications

The GLL Sport Foundation is an athlete focused support programme providing individuals in Hammersmith and Fulham with tangible support to aid their sports performance, support includes training membership access to over three hundred venues across the UK, access to physio and injury rehab support and financial awards up to the value of £1,250.

Details and access to the application portal can be found via this link 

Should you need any further information please contact Phil Kemp on Phil.Kemp@GLL.ORG or 07548132890

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Mental Health Self-Care Funding Programme

The programme was launched on 11th December 2017 and the deadline has now been extended to 9am Monday 22nd January 2018. 

WLCCG (NHS West London Clinical Commissioning Group) has made available one-off funding of £150,000 for a range of mental health self-care activities. These activities must be aligned to Community Living Well, a network of services based in the community to support people with stable long-term mental health needs supported by primary care. New self-care activities will extend the range of options available to people and support making the best use of community mental health resources.

If you are a charity, voluntary organisation or social enterprise and have an idea for an innovative project you would like to test, or you would like to expand an existing service, this could be the funding for you. You can learn more and apply by visiting this page on the KCSC website

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Citizens Advice Hammersmith & Fulham AGM

You are invited to CAHF’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 25th January 2018 from 3 pm to 5 pm.

Venue:    Avonmore Library and Neighbourhood Centre, 7 North End Crescent, London W14 8TG (Click here for a map)
Time:      3-5pm

Our AGM will feature a Panel Debate on Universal Credit
Hammersmith and Fulham was one of the first London Boroughs  to have a full roll-out of Universal Credit.  Over the this period we have dealt with many issues that our clients have faced with the transition to universal credit. We have also contributed to campaigns and policies leading to some fundamental changes. We discuss our experiences with a panel of experts and share our experiences so far.

Panel Members:
Beth Foley, Senior Policy Researcher, Citizens Advice
Shelley Musa, Trailblazer Project Manager, LB Hammersmith and Fulham
Dan Norris, Welfare Rights Adviser – Early Warning System, Child Poverty Action Group
DWP representative

Light refreshments will be provided.

Please email ivy.lewis@cahf.org.uk RSVP. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us

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