Â£290k boost for charities helps homeless in Skegness area

Lincolnshire Co-op has given local homeless charities more than Â£290,000 of support. A presentation of the money and toiletries was made at Lincolnshire Co-opÂ’s Pharmacy Warehouse in Lincoln.
FRONT ROW FROM LEFT: Lisa Del Buono from Framework, Lincolnshire Co-op President Stuart Parker, Gayner Ward from The Salvation Army in Skegness and Lincolnshire Co-op Chief Executive Ursula Lidbetter.
BACK ROW FROM LEFT: Malcolm Barham from The Nomad Trust, John Hudson from Emmaus Trust Newark, Robin Barr from Harbour Place in Grimsby, Lincolnshire Co-opÂ’s Head of Pharmacy Alastair Farquhar, Centrepoint BostonÂ’s Liz Hopkins, Axiom Homeless ActionÂ’s Pete Middlemiss and Danny Nichols from P3. ANL-170321-125918001 — Lincolnshire Co-op has given local homeless charities more than Â£290,000 of support. A presentation of the money and toiletries was made at Lincolnshire Co-opÂ’s Pharmacy Warehouse in Lincoln. FRONT ROW FROM LEFT: Lisa Del Buono from Framework, Lincolnshire Co-op President Stuart Parker, Gayner Ward from The Salvation Army in Skegness and Lincolnshire Co-op Chief Executive Ursula Lidbetter. BACK ROW FROM LEFT: Malcolm Barham from The Nomad Trust, John Hudson from Emmaus Trust Newark, Robin Barr from Harbour Place in Grimsby, Lincolnshire Co-opÂ’s Head of Pharmacy Alastair Farquhar, Centrepoint BostonÂ’s Liz Hopkins, Axiom Homeless ActionÂ’s Pete Middlemiss and Danny Nichols from P3. ANL-170321-125918001

Fourteen organisations tackling homelessness became Lincolnshire Co-op’s chosen Community Champions in December last year. Every time a member shopped in a Lincolnshire Co-op outlet using their dividend card, a donation was made to those good causes.

Proceeds from the carrier bag charge and staff fundraising – such as the £1,000 collected by brave colleagues taking part in sponsored sleep outs in Boston and Lincoln – were added, bringing the total raised to £147,534.

The countywide charity P3 (People, Potential, Possibilities) will receive £42,998 and Skegness Salvation Army £5,513. .

Sam Turner, Lincolnshire Co-op’s community engagement manager, said: “We have been blown away by the generosity of our members, customers and colleagues. Together, we have been able to offer these groups a huge amount of support – both financial and practical.

“The 14 groups which have benefitted are doing incredible work in our area with some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. We’re so pleased that together we’ve been able to contribute.”

Charity P3 - People Potential Possibilities helps rough sleepers throughout Lincolnshire and offers a support service to people in accommodation who face potential housing issues. It willbenefit from £42,998.

Operations Manager Jonny Goldsmith said: “We’re living and working in challenging times where the needs of our clients and the demands placed upon our services are greater than ever. Whilst we don’t rely on donations to fund the work that we do, we are truly grateful to Lincolnshire Co-op and its members for this incredible act of generosity. It will enable us to increase our current service provision.

“We cover such a vast area that we rely upon the public to tell us if they see someone rough sleeping - our freephone number is 0808 281 0280 and we’d encourage everyone to call it if they see someone who needs our help.”

The Salvation Army runs emergency and Move On accommodation in East Lindsey and will receive £5,513.

Gayner Ward, of Skegness Salvation Army, said: “The donation will help our clients so much, so thank you to everyone who helped raise money.

“We operate a volunteer project that runs two days a week where our clients go out through referrals and do some decorating and gardening, so the money will be going towards buying new tools to enable that project to carry on. Now we know we’ve got some money in the pot we can start looking at new projects to start, too.”

Donations of £143,000 worth of food and groceries were also made to many of the charities, including 200 Christmas turkeys.

Shoppers contributed 97 boxes of toiletries through collection points at Lincolnshire Co-op’s pharmacies and gifted Christmas presents through the Society’s travel branches. These were split between many of the good causes.