St Catherine’s Church Centre which runs Wakefield’s biggest food bank has been nominated for two awards in the Aviva Community Fund competition which could see it winning a vital cash boost.
Its Recovery Cafe for sufferers of mental illness in West Yorkshire and its exciting Monday Club which seeks to tackle isolation among the elderly population have both been nominated. You can vote for them here:
https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/1393/
https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/1381
And you can see more details and updates on their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/StCaths
St Catherine’s is a diverse community with a rich life of worship, prayer and community engagement. Its ministry is rooted in the care of the vulnerable and disadvantaged and runs a variety of initiatives to meet the needs of its local community from its gardening club, healthy eating and cooking initiatives, job club as well as its Emergency Food Bank. The Monday Club seeks to tackle isolation among the elderly population of Wakefield through a social group benefiting from vibrant interaction and a range of entertainment. Membership is free to anyone and the club welcomes people of any age, ethnicity and background. The Recovery Café provides integrated support to the large numbers of clients with mental health problems who access the Emergency Food Store - in particular those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It runs along an alternative therapeutic community model and also utilises large amounts of food waste and is designed to tackle ignorance and inequalities of nutrition and rights, and offers a cost-effective method of providing the support and stability individuals need to recover from mental illnesses.
Recovery Café Project Administrator, Jonathan Williams said: “We believe that with the support of our community we can begin to address the determinants of food poverty in our region and move beyond the provision of short-term solutions to those desperate for long-term change.
http://www.stcatherines-wakefield.org.uk/