Community resilience case studies - Print version

Take a look at some of the amazing community groups we have supported.

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Local developer Watkin Jones supporting the community

Three city community libraries have been awarded a total of £1,000 by a local developer to support their work.

Finham, Earlsdon Carnegie and Cheylesmore, received the generous gift from the Watkin Jones Group, which is currently creating a new purpose-built facility for the Coventry Boys’ and Girls’ Club and two student accommodation blocks in the city.

Watkin Jones is one of the country’s leading developers and strongly believes in giving back to the local communities where they work.

They run a Community Fund which local groups and organisations in need can apply to. The Community Resilience Team have been working closely with Watkin Jones to link them with local groups and organisations they could offer support to in Coventry. The team recognised that if the community libraries were to have some new equipment it would allow them to host more events and encourage more residents into their local community library, so suggested them for the funding.

The team asked for £300 to fund a projector and a screen that the libraries could share to support events and host talks to involve local communities.

Watkin Jones decided the libraries deserved one each – along with some extra money to help improve services.

The libraries were one of 10 successful groups to receive funding after over 300 applications from around the country and they were chosen as Watkin Jones could ‘see the impact of their support in the community’.

Adrian Davidson, Construction Director at Watkin Jones, said: “At Watkin Jones we are passionate about creating great places to live that bring positive benefits to communities both during and after construction. This is why we were delighted to get involved and support such a worthwhile cause - one that will no doubt benefit local people.”

Cllr Tariq Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “Libraries are at the heart of local neighbourhoods and provide a vital service to local people.

“I’d like to pass on my appreciation to Watkin Jones. It’s excellent to see this support from local businesses, especially as the funding will further help a number of libraries in putting on local events.”

Anchor

The Community Resilience Team were contacted by a local Mother Kelly in 2018 who wished to set up a support group for parents of children who had attempted suicide or self-harmed. Sharing her own experiences as a parent, Kelly said that she had been left feeling alone and unsupported at a difficult time and felt that there had been limited support available to her. She had a passion to ensure that no one else in a similar position felt the same and felt that it was important for a support group for parents in the city to be established. The idea behind the group was the parents could meet in a safe space to share feelings and speak openly about how they are supporting their children as best as possible by discussing their experiences.

The Community Resilience Team supported Kelly with how to set up a group, governance and how and where to advertise. The team suggested that this was rolled out slowly and to talk to organisations such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) and linked her in with a local Vicar with a passion for mental health support and some experience of services through a previous career as a mental health nurse.

The team advised Kelly of good opportunities to promote her group and make new connections to help her launch the group. Attending these events enabled her to network and find out about other groups in Coventry, she gained skills in applying for funding and was awarded funding from the Active Citizens Fund. The money awarded, enabled her to produce publicity material which enabled Anchor to launch in the city. 

Anchor now go into local schools and raise awareness of self-harm and its effects. They run a peer support group for parents and carers of self-harmers and those who have attempted suicide – this group meets monthly. Anchor has also built relationships with others providing crossover services such as SOBS (Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide) and Papyrus (a young suicide prevention charity).

Over the last few years Kelly’s confidence has significantly grown with running this group, and she felt confident to represent the third sector at the Arm’s Length event where national lead policymakers visited Coventry in order to understand the positive action small organisations on the ground make, what matters to them and hopefully influence future policymaking. At this event, Kelly was able to demonstrate the importance of her group and how it supports parents across the city.

Anchor has more recently been supported by CRT to apply for £6,145 to pilot wellbeing sessions for both young people and their parents/carers. The idea is that in different parts of the same building, simultaneously, parents are enjoying yoga and relaxation while their children are being helped with relaxation and coping strategies. Both groups are then brought together and share their experiences at the end of the session.

Peggie’s Park Community Centre

Peggie’s Park Community Centre is based in Bedlam Lane, Foleshill and has been running for 28 years. It has supported many people in that time and is currently a thriving centre that relies solely on volunteers. The Community Resilience Team has supported the centre over the last few years

The centre has been running a homeless project for over 10 years. They provide hot meals twice weekly and require external funding to sustain this vital lifeline to many people. The team were asked for support to apply to the ‘Big Lottery Awards for All’ fund to keep the project going for the next 12 months. This was after a conversation between the centre manager and an officer from the Big Lottery, who advised they eligible to apply again.

An application to the value of £9,277 was submitted to the ‘Awards for All’ small grants fund, to pay for food to continue providing hot meals for the homeless and to pay for volunteer expenses. The organisation was successful with the application and were awarded the full amount from the ‘Big Lottery’.

As a result of this successful application, the centre was contacted by the ‘Big Lottery’ whose officer recommended that the organisation apply for the larger grant from the ‘Reaching Communities’ fund. This fund gives amounts of between £10,000-£500,000 and because Peggie’s Park has a proven history of managing lottery funding, they recommended they apply.

The CRT entered discussions with the organisation about the possibility of running a youth project from the centre. The organisation put in an expression of interest to the Big Lottery and have been given the go-ahead to apply for full funding. An application in excess of £300,000 will be submitted to the Reaching Communities arm of the Big Lottery Fund to pay for youth worker salaries and equipment.

To secure the future of Peggie’s Park the CRT will continue to work with the centre, not only to apply for funding for a youth project but to work with committee members and volunteers to ensure the centre runs efficiently going forward.

Alongside this support, the Community Resilience Team linked the community centre with local developers RG Group who had been building student accommodation in the city. As part of this recognise the importance of giving back to the community as much as possible and asked the team to put them in touch with a group that would greatly benefit from some support. 

Stephen Davis, RG Group Project Manager on the site, shared: “As a principal contractor we support local communities and good causes to try and create legacy projects to leave a lasting impression on the communities we impact and give something back. With the help of the Community Resilience Team we were able to help a really good local cause, Peggie’s Park, and give something back – and hopefully made a real difference.”

Cllr Tariq Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The Community Resilience Team are a great liaison to link up communities and developers to make a real difference. Peggie’s Park is a great example of how connecting the right people can make a huge impact. The centre has been transformed with a fresh coat of paint and it’s ready to do even more great things in the local community now it’s been brightened up inside and out.

As well as the provision of materials, RG Group and M&S Decorators have been tirelessly working down at the community centre volunteering their time to decorate with great results.

Stoke Heath Community Centre supported by Clegg Construction

Local community centre Stoke Heath has received a refresh to their facilities following a connection formed by the Community Resilience team and local developer Clegg Construction.

Cllr Tariq Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “I’m so pleased to see even more positive partnerships being developed between the Council, local community groups and developers.

“The renovations that have been completed in the community centre will make a real difference for people that visit and use the building and will help to maintain such a fantastic facility for everyone that lives locally.”

The developers, who are currently working on new student accommodation on the Stoney Stanton Road, volunteered time, materials and labour as part of their community outreach.

Katie Sergiew, Community Centre Manager, said: “We cannot thank Clegg Construction and the Community Resilience Team enough for giving up valuable time and resources to make Stoke Heath Community Centre a brighter, nicer place to visit. This has made such a difference to us and all who use the centre.”

Stoke Heath Community Centre supports a host of different people in their local area throughout the week. The centre has something to offer to everyone, with activities for all ages. The centre also has a pool of volunteers supporting the activities and events on a weekly basis, providing numerous people with the chance to get involved with activities they would not usually be able to access.  

Andrew Wells, Senior Project Manager for Clegg Construction, added: “Working in construction is amazing when you can give something back to a community. I’m hoping that all the community that use this facility will appreciate what we’ve done and Clegg Construction can leave that legacy for when we return again another time.”

Clegg Construction was placed in contact with the Community Resilience Team to identify groups and organisations that may benefit from their skills and support. The team had been supporting the community in Stoke Heath and were aware of the centre’s needs, so put them in touch to coordinate the works.

Buckingham Group support during COVID-19

Buckingham Group and Feeding Coventry 

Over the last few months, local communities have come together to ensure that those in need have received as much support as possible, to help them through these challenging times.

Food provision has been the highest need for many, from those that have been unable to leave their homes to purchase it themselves, to those whose financial circumstances have meant that purchasing food has been a struggle.

The Community Resilience Team have been supporting with the set up of the food hubs across the city supporting those in need. Unfortunately, Foleshill Community Centre who run a social supermarket and a food hub was broken into with thousands of pounds worth of food and equipment taken. The community centre, therefore, had to prioritise securing the building as quickly as possible with the limited funds they had available.

The Community Resilience Team reached out to Buckingham Group one of the city's developers who had previously offered support to the community to see if there was anything they could do to help.  As part of their social value contribution to the community, Buckingham Group gladly offered to £600 contribution to the community centre to put towards them securing the building.

Rachael Land, Future Skills Support Project Manager from Buckingham Group shared "At Buckingham's we take great pride in supporting the communities in which we work and make it an essential part of our planning to get involved as much as possible, not only by financial contributions but also volunteering our time for local causes, supporting those who are interested in a career in construction via our apprenticeships and work placement commitments amongst other things. When we were made aware of the unfortunate break-in at Foleshill Foodbank during the midst of the Pandemic and the subsequent need for the Community Centre to replenish stock and upgrade security urgently, we and some of our supply chain, notably Aden's and Orton Electrical were keen to contribute. We recognise that the foodbanks across the City are a lifeline for many people not only during this difficult time but all through the year. and any part we can play to help we are happy to get involved".

Alongside this Buckingham group have now contributed a fantastic £1250 towards the summer holiday breakfast club which is running across the summer holidays. Each week breakfasts and activity packs will be provided to children who live in the city who are in families experiencing hardship this summer. The money contributed by Buckingham will enable 83 children in the city to receive this for the week.

Chair of Trustees for Feeding Coventry, Councillor Faye Abbott shared "The team at Feeding Coventry are extremely grateful for the support from Buckingham group during the pandemic, their donation following the break-in has helped us get the community centre secured with CCTV installed, and their donation towards the summer holiday program is helping us to deliver our target of 1500 packs of food and activities to families struggling during the summer holidays. "

Community-based food hubs have been providing around 1500 food parcels a week throughout the Covid-19 outbreak and will also be providing breakfast packs for children in need during the school holidays. 

Local developers Interclass support during COVID-19

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic Canley Community Centre agreed to become one of the 10 food hubs in the city helping to support those in need during these challenging times

 Each week they have been supporting approx. 95 families with food parcels and are now operating as a social supermarket which is a great success.

After speaking with the centre manager, it was felt that it was important to ensure the building was as secure as possible with its new use and noted that it was in need of some additional security for this. The Community Resilience Team therefore reached out to local developers Interclass who are currently undertaking the Coundon Court School expansion to see if they would be able to support.

Interclass kindly donated with just over £700 worth of additional security for the building along with fitting this themselves for the community centre making a big difference.

Interclass Project Manager Stephen Pearson shared “Interclass is committed to helping the communities in which it works and after speaking with the Community Resilience Team at Coventry City Council we wanted to do our bit to help the food hubs and their volunteers who make a real difference to people’s lives in the local community. We are proud to be able to support their vital work and hope it goes some way to ensuring these essential services can continue to support those vulnerable and when they need it the most”

Councillor Tariq Khan, Coventry City Council Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said” As we have seen so often during this crisis our partners have been generous with both their time and money and are making a real difference to communities. Thanks go out to all partners helping vulnerable members of society at this difficult time.”

Riley Square developer backing for local food hub

A company specialising in retail development that has been regenerating Riley Square in Bell Green has donated £500 to a grub hub that provides a vital food supplies to local people

Innovative Retail Development (IRD) has been working in the city for over the last year and recently the Council’s Community Resilience team contacted IRD to highlight some of the projects happening in the local neighbourhood.

IRD were keen to offer support to local community organisations operating close to Riley Square and after having already supported Bell Green Community Centre with a £250 donation for materials to decorate the centre, were keen to offer some more support to help fund food support to families in the community.

The local grub hub in the area run by Moat House Community Trust in the Wood End and Henley Green areas of the city, provides on average 135 food parcels a week to families who may struggle to put food on the table.

Since the pandemic began, they have supported even more families in the area than ever and the additional resources and funding they received has been welcomed.

Cllr David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, said: “I’ve been talking to volunteers at the local grub hub and saw how busy they are. We are seeing a growing number of food hubs offering cost-effective supplies to families and individuals most in need.

At the same time IRD are yet another business working in the community who have actively wanted to make a difference to peoples’ lives. I’d like to thank them for their generous support.”

Diane Williams CEO of the Trust shared Diane Williams CEO of the Trust shared “As a community response to supporting its own community, we are very grateful for the contribution from IRD””

Jason Everard from IR Developers added: “Innovative Retail Development Ltd (IRD) are pleased to be able to contribute to the Moat House Community Trust Grub Hub. The Trust do great work helping the area’s residents and local community. We at IRD want to improve and develop Riley Square and restore it back to the thriving heart of the Bell Green area, that it once was. So, we are happy to help other local organisations that share our goal to support the local community.”

Community Resilience Team supporting Emergency Food Hubs

Over the course of the pandemic, the Community Resilience Team has been supporting all  organisations offering emergency food across the city, particularly the nine social supermarkets, six of which are brand new and set up with help from the team.

​Working with some amazing charities they have supported them with developing membership packs, funding applications, introduced food suppliers and linked them with local developers.

The team formed a Community Food Network which all organisations that are operational and providing an emergency food response are involved in. They have ensured that all of the social supermarkets are now operating from the same model, so no matter which social supermarket people attend they will get the same service. A Community Food Hub WhatsApp group has also been put in place, which the hubs use to share food items so no waste and to request help. All of this work has led to an amazing and efficient voluntary and community resource, which is a credit to the many volunteers and community organisations within.  

To help each of these food hubs/social supermarkets to become more sustainable the team have designed and supported the creation of a much-needed Local Giving donation page. Funds received will be used to bulk purchase food and distribute across the nine social supermarkets and enable them to continue to run.

Since March the team have been applying for funds to enable the charities to employ staff, purchase equipment and storage facilities, food stocks and other essentials the organisations have identified as being required to get them operational.

Just over 50 applications have been completed by the Community Resilience Team supporting the voluntary sector organisations.  Funding amounts since March total over £668,000.  To date £390,745 has been successfully been awarded.

The latest food hub to be supported by the team is run by Carriers of Hope and is called The World Food Hub offering culturally diverse foods for BME groups and has been operational for only two weeks in Hillfields and already feeding 120 people including children.

The team also supports developers working in the city to fulfil their community obligations by matchmaking them with community organisations and causes. The following developers have been worked supported and enabled to be donate in the following different ways;

• Buckingham Group donated a fantastic £600 to Foleshill Community Centre for additional security after they were broken into and food supplies and more stolen, as well as an additional £1250 towards supporting the Feeding Coventry summer holiday breakfast club. More recently, they had agreed to raise donations for the Local Giving page and are doing a raffle for their employees with all money going towards the food network.
• Interclass supported Canley food Hub with £700 worth of additional building security and their staff to fit this.
• Eurovia and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service both provided volunteers to support with the packing and delivering of the Summer Holiday Breakfast packs for children on free school meals.
• The Team also contacted Peugeot to see if they could offer support to the network and negotiated a brand new £16,000 van for £8000 that the Moat House Community Trust had applied for and been awarded funds for.

Local Developer supports Coventry Food Network

Local developer Buckingham Group Ltd have come to the aid of the Coventry Food Network, by collecting food donations from employees and running a Christmas raffle.

Buckingham Raised £755 with their Christmas Raffle, they then added another £1000 to the total. Donating a total of £1755 to Feeding Coventry – Coventry Food Network Just Giving page to help them bulk purchase food for the nine Social Supermarkets across Coventry that support vulnerable people in Coventry with food support.

Craig Davies, Project Manager, Buckingham Group Contracting ltd said "Having supported the Community Resilience Team in the Summer in their plight to support projects that provided school pack lunches during the summer holidays, when they approached for support in the funding of Feeding Coventry over the Christmas period we were only too happy to help. However, this time we wanted our site staff to get involved to make them more aware of the charity and how it supports local residents. Thus, a raffle was organised with some of our sub-contractors donating fantastic prizes and it is fair to say that there were some happy winners with early Christmas presents!! We are delighted with our site efforts and pleased that we are able to help families in the city to enjoy a bit of festivity".

Councillor David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities said, "This a lovely example of how the whole business community and their staff can get involved in supporting local charities. The generosity shown by all the staff and companies involved in the raffle will make a real difference to local residents this Christmas. I thank them all." 

The Coventry Food Network Social Supermarkets are run by Feeding Coventry, Moat House Community Trust, Carriers of Hope, Stoke Aldermoor Community Association, Canley Community Centre, Cheylesmore Food Hub, Stoke Heath Community Centre and Willenhall Community Forum

Sharon Thomas Community Resilience Team commented, "All the organisations running these food hubs have been working flat out through the pandemic, providing food support in their communities. They really are an amazing group of people. I would like to say a big thank you to all of them and Happy Christmas."

Worldsfood Food Hub support

The Worldsfood Food Hub based at St Marks Church in St Michael’s Ward has received a much-welcomed donation of £500 from Farrans, a leading building and civil engineering contractor.

Farrans, who are currently building over 200 new apartments on Gulson Road, were looking for a way to make a positive impact in the local community. So, their Community Business Partner team contacted the Council’s Community Resilience team who helped them identify the Food Hub as a project they could support.

The Food Hub is run through a partnership between Coventry-based charity Carriers of Hope, St. Marks Church and Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and was established to ensure that a range of specialist culturally appropriate foods was available to those in need.

 Since opening in November 2020, the Food Hub has provided three days’ worth of food to an average of 220 people a week.

Thanks to Farrans' generous donation of £500, the Food Hub will be able to purchase a large number of food supplies which will help them to keep supporting those who are vulnerable.

Cllr David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities recently visited the food hub and paid tribute to the hard work of those who work there.

He said: “I was blown away by the dedication and generosity of the people who were working in the hub. They are a credit to our city and the way they continue to support the diverse communities we have in Coventry is truly awe-inspiring.

“We have a strong community ethos here in Coventry and it’s fantastic when a local developer, like Farrans buys into that. Their support is hugely important to keep vital support networks like this food hub going. So, on behalf of the city I want to say a big thank you to them for this donation.”

Andrew Purdy, Project Manager at Farrans Construction, said: “As a business, we strive to make a positive impact on all of the communities that we work in and, as part of our Gulson Road construction project, we are pleased to donate £500 to the Worldfoods Food Hub in Coventry.

“This partnership provides support to those facing extreme hardship in the local area. The pandemic has placed additional pressures on many households and demand for services such as food aid has increased significantly in recent months.

“We identified the hub because it’s an important organisation delivering an essential service and we know that these funds will be used to help some of the most vulnerable people in this area.”  

To find out more about the work that Carriers of Hope does in Coventry, please visit their website. [http://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=9NK8nR21iO4FLrDeSr_3LwcUdLxMe_LIXDO0eWd6hSQCbKHe-9obDHpvWJPq-W5Z1utDE7vCZ-b8LYjNTu1919ucGbRTwJkVb9a_EX5LWCcetfuHVT0Cv665kOdTQkQ2PKRoUSYfUQjU-pAr3ElE5Cy449q9TqTJ3HrYNAx4HkUk0]

Farrans, a leading building and civil engineering contractor who are delivering world-class projects across the UK and Ireland. The company, which employs more than 500 people, has offices in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Belfast with further site offices connecting its regional network. You can read more about their work, on their website. [http://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=u30tbwtbCy1AMDoEXZBpW3PJYqXqlYMDq5OL4mV5PhD9pgUgP3jPZ7kCYHpc35JrdminsnErajWL_cijZsTIbx3KFbPKOs3umf8FC8KPXKu5EfE1g4pyYFG-FBoWawfbFQ2]

Lenton’s Lane Baptist Church receives funding from the Recovery and Support Grant and Severn Trent!

Lenton’s Lane Baptist Church is situated in the Northeast of the city and lies within the Longford Ward. The Community Resilience Team (CRT) initially contacted the church during the Covid19 lockdown period but were told it was closed until things returned to normal, but they would appreciate support once normality returned as they had ideas for projects they would like to run.

Once the lockdown periods ended the team engaged with the church to discuss their ideas. The church leader Barry Keegan said they wanted to resume their youth activities due to the impact the lockdown periods had on their mental health, and they needed more equipment to encourage a larger number of young people. He also said he wanted to increase the number of activities in the community hall, particularly around healthy eating and wanted to renovate the kitchen area.

The CRT officer advised him to apply firstly to apply to the teams Recovery and Support Grant for equipment for the youth group. Secondly, he advised him to meet with the local funding officer from the Severn Trent Community Fund for the Kitchen refurbishment to discuss the groups eligibility, in which they were given the go ahead to apply.

The team assisted the group with both applications, firstly to apply for the teams Recovery and Support Grant which was successful and £650 was awarded to the church for room hire costs, arts and crafts equipment, an air hockey table, and a new volleyball net.

The second application to the Severn Trent Community Fund was for a much larger amount of funding on which the team worked closely with the church to complete to make sure that the application had been filled out correctly and that the correct documents had been uploaded to the form. A few weeks after submitting the application the group were contacted by Severn Trent to inform them that they had been awarded £20,000 towards re-furbishing their kitchen area.

The church were over the moon to receive all of this funding and are continuing to work with the team to look at other available funding opportunities, to support the groups that use the facility and to set up others once the new kitchen facility is installed.

Local charity Baby Godiva's growing success after successful funding opportunities and support from the team!

Over the last 18 months the Community Resilience Team have been supporting a local charity called Baby Godiva. The charity provides free of charge, pre-loved and new nursery items and consumables to families living in poverty.

Since the charity’s formation in 2019 it has helped 1,834 families with over 6,000 items, and the CRT has supported them in applying to a variety of funders. Since receiving support from the CRT they have been successful in bringing in around £40,000 worth of external funding so that the charities amazing work can continue.

Prior to their support with the team, the charity shared that they limited knowledge and skills in applying for external funding, relying on donations to sustain the project, therefore were looking for some support to upskill themselves.

Isabelle McCabe, who runs the charity, was offered guidance and tips on how best to write a funding application and provide with links to potential external funders that they could apply to. Working with the

CRT she began to grow in confidence in filling out funding applications. Since being supported by the team, she has applied for some funding grants by herself and has been successful in bringing in several thousand pounds worth of funding in addition to that achieved while working alongside the CRT officer.

One of those funds was the CRT’s own Community Recovery and Support Grant. Through this Baby Godiva were able to purchase fifteen Moses baskets with stands, ten cots with mattresses and ten stairgates. They now have one cot left with four people on the waiting list, five Moses baskets left, and no stairgates left. They have been able to support ten families with the Grant money.

The team will continue to support the charity where necessary such as making them aware of available funding and assisting with writing large grant applications.