Stoke JarSquad

JarSquad’s goal: grow a solidarity economy whilst making communal preserves (and more!) as a squad. In collectively cooking up our shared abundance (of surplus, grown, or foraged food), we spark a rethinking on what we might value/waste/share.

Our idea: develop an offer of creative consultation, community coaching and organizing to get local groups to start their own JarSquad. Working with The Village Hub and their community pantry, we’ve identified a budding food-passionate group in Stoke we’d like to collaborate with, via a series of food-making and food-preservation sessions that centre our ethos of joy, connection, co-learning, sustainability and resilience.

We Count Too

Our aim is to facilitate a safe space where young people known in the local area, particularly young males can meet once weekly to develop a network where they can make safer informed decisions on how they live their lives.
The development of this work will target and support those who have been effected by social isolation, lack specific life skills where emotions and poor mental health have been a barrier.
Referral demand has increased in this area, we engage well with those in need who help to shape and deliver this work to be successful.

Home Economics – Core Skills for home, life and work!

6 core activities – open to everyone, participants can join weekly workshops to address any of the challenges they face during the cost of living crisis.
Budgeting
Cooking,
DIY
Sewing
Parental Support (Messy Munchkins sessions)
Employment & Careers Advice
Driven by participant input, we will have an adaptable delivery. We have our own premises but also use community facilities to ensure accessibility across Plymouth.
Delivering for over 10 years, with a proven track record. We have a strong membership and following. Workshops have recently finished through cessation of funding. We have a list of EOI’s which shows the ongoing need.

£4 Budget Cinema Ticket for Unwaged or Low Income

The best way to watch a film is to make it an event and see it on the big screen, with an audience. We don’t want people to break the habit of coming to the cinema because they can no longer afford it. We introduced a £4 Budget price (full price £9) in a trial from 1/10/22 to 31/1/23. We sold 241 Budget tickets and welcomed 58 first-time visitors to the cinema. Plymouth Live named PAC as one of Plymouth’s kindest businesses for this initiative. We’d love the chance to make it a permanent offer and develop it further.

Community drop in @Turnchapel

The aim of this project is for people to come together in a central warm space, chat and develop a sense of belonging within the community. This idea, raised at the last Residents’ Association, was that we need a space for isolated locals and others in the neighbourhood, to engage in activities such as board games, craft etc. Our diverse community includes older and single residents as well as young families and refugees who might be struggling financially. We’d like to welcome anybody with warm drinks, hot food such as coffee, tea, soup, rolls.

The Kit Bag Project – Is five a day all we need?

Funds acquired will be used to implement our new innovative program which is underpinned by nourishing and educating children and families about the importance of ‘not just’ consuming the five recommended fruit and vegetables a day, and will be delivered through primarily non- referral foodbanks to target the cost of living crisis & holiday hunger including the stigma.
Moreover, the program consists of the promotion of the other five core messages and ‘promoting immunity in the community’ (see below)
1. Hand washing
2. Mental health
3. Nutrition
4. Exercise
5. Climate change (the 5 Rs)

Community Roadshow 2023

Livewell Southwest’s Wellbeing Team and Food is Fun CIC to coordinate and facilitate a series of community engagement events to support local communities with healthy lifestyle behaviours under the constraints of the cost of living crisis. This will be a roadshow event style and will take place in different communities across the city. The most deprived communities will be targeted based on local knowledge and according to the indices of multiple deprivation (IMD).

Food is Fun CIC will provide slow cookery workshops. The Wellbeing Team will use this opportunity to offer brief behaviour change interventions for those in attendance.

Genie Gym; exercise classes with childcare attached

Improving access to a healthier lifestyle and improving the wellbeing of individuals by providing childcare during exercise classes to remove barriers for parents. A series of classes will be run, while children are looked after within the same building (for example, by utilising 2 rooms in the same community centre). The aim is to provide access to classes that would otherwise be out of reach for parents who cannot afford them, and who do not have anyone to care for their children. Exercise improves mental health and by improving the wellbeing of the parents, the children will also benefit.

Feast of Fun

TPT seeks funding for this year’s Feast of Fun programme. Benefitting children are known to churches and identified at risk of hunger without this provision. TPT has a 5-year proven record of church collaboration to provide this programme, which typically offers free, safe and local activities incl. meals for all children attending.

Churches provide venues, volunteers, activities and support so the meals are the only cost. TPT have secured part funding to provide approx. 8000 meals for children in 2023 and have a shortfall of £1.25 per child to provide hot nutritious meals via Plymouth’s Feast of Fun provision.

The Village Hub Club

Our need is working with people not for them and to ensure support is proportionate.

We have found the following useful:
Having an Emergency Fund where visitors can access provisions at a local shop
Providing Advice and Support
Sharing information at awareness events – a one stop shop
Paid advertising to reach as many people as possible.
Work with existing partnerships e.g. JarSquad learning to turn surplus food into meals
Upskilling the community by providing training on food hygiene so visitors can make nutritious meals for the community using items from our food larder.

What’s next Stoke?