Once Upon A Time in Leicester
The Fosse Mutual Aid (FMA) group was formed in March 2020 to support local people with shopping, collecting prescriptions, dog walking etc during the early part of the lockdown in Leicester. Eve, Lynn and others were part of that group. At the same time, Abi was independently providing a ‘pop up’ foodbank as lead for the Westcotes Mutual Aid (WMA) group, collecting donations and making deliveries from her home which covered people in Westcotes, Western and Fosse Wards of Leicester city. Over a few months we all became aware of how many people were struggling, as the FMA group found themselves asking Abi for food parcels for more and more people.
Out of this, the idea of a food bank was born. With the help of our local Councillor, Sue Waddington, a place was identified, Woodgate Resources Centre, which was temporarily closed because of the pandemic; the FMA joined up with Abi from the WMA and together we started Woodgate Community Food. We also formed an Unincorporated Association which we called Fosse Mutual Aid Association - made up entirely of volunteers giving their time.
From Little Acorns
In June 2020 Woodgate Community Food started providing maybe around 25 food parcels for home delivery, engaging with a number of supporters who were prepared to take these around, until the first lockdown was lifted and we were able to open the doors to people to come and collect food for themselves.
We had lots of donations of food from our supporters, and from Action Homeless who were providing Leicester foodbanks with supplies, and we were able to get some funding from our local Fosse Ward fund at the Council.The numbers of people using the foodbank started to grow, and we had a couple of big fundraisers to make sure we could continue to provide top-ups every week to over 40 families and growing. By now we were using FareShare, another voluntary organisation, to provide the bulk of our weekly stock.
One Door Closes, Another Opens
A few months later the Woodgate Resources Centre was getting ready to open up again, and we had to find a new home. Again with the help of Sue, we were able to make a deal with the Woodgate Adventure Playground (WAP), who were also doing a foodbank during the pandemic, and we moved over there in October 2020, where we delivered the foodbank from under gazebos in the yard at the adventure playground. It was a challenging time, being out in the open through rain, snow, and wind over the winter of 2020-2021!
The supplies were stored in a room next to the yard, and between Woodgate Community Food and Woodgate Adventure Playground, we were able to stock up and provide our foodbank for about four days a week - including still delivering to the most vulnerable or unwell members of the community.
Christmas 2020 was an amazing experience for us, as we were able to use the Sports Hall in the Adventure Playground to provide games, special items and wrapped presents for children (which were generously donated from staff at Glenfield Hospitals and a few other sources).
All Good Things
We couldn’t stay at the WAP, once they were able to open up again as an adventure playground. So in January 2021 we were once again looking for somewhere to move to.
For the third time, Sue came to our aid, and was able to persuade the Council to let us use Rally House, an old factory building on Bonchurch Street just along from WAP, as our new venue. The main residents there were the local pigeons, so there was quite a lot to do before we could move in!
We pressed on, and after a few months of cleaning and decorating, with the Council making sure we had water and electricity, in the early spring we moved into Rally House, a big space with room for storage of food and other things such as clothes and books. There was still lots to do - for example, we made a proper storeroom with shelving and sanded floors.
At the same time, we were trying to develop Fosse Mutual Aid Association into something more than a foodbank, and we had groups such as Pedestrian running art, craft and film-making sessions for children; a group doing capoeira (Brazilian dance-fighting); clothes and book sales; recycling unwanted items into musical instruments; advice sessions etc. and we even provided temporary storage for some gorgeous carnival costumes. We also gained more supporters, with regular donations from Anil and his group, and special donations from schools at Harvest Festival, for example.
Christmas 2021 came and went - we were able to provide a Santa’s Grotto this time, and as much fun and special extras as we could. There were a lot of Advent Calendars!
It was more sheltered at Rally House than it had been out on the Adventure Playground, but the winter was still cold, even inside - sometimes we didn’t need the fridges to keep food chilled! We continued to look around for a more conducive home, and we set our sights on the Fosse Neighbourhood Centre, as we discovered there was some space there we might be able to use. We went to have a look, and all agreed this would be a great option. There was even a kitchenette - and heating!
Arriving at the Annexe
Once again, Sue got involved, and serious negotiations started to happen with the Council, and the Mayor, before it was agreed that we could move into The Annexe of the Neighbourhood Centre.
After a last special Christmas session at Rally House, we shut up shop for just one weekend and moved our enterprise lock, stock and barrel to The Annexe, reopening the second weekend of January 2023.
Along with this move, we made a number of changes to the way we delivered the foodbank and ran our organisation. We had more volunteers who were able to step up to take on more responsibility, and more foodbankers who wanted to help out as well. We revised all our Volunteer Procedures, and at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) elected a new Volunteer Coordinator (John) as well as the other roles of Chair (Eve), Treasurer (Abi) and Secretary (Lynn). In addition there are several other key roles which volunteers have taken. We also partnered with Benji, who runs Aunt Sal’s Do Something For Someone Else, who wanted to help out and provide hot drinks, snacks, takeaways and occasionally hot food for people using the foodbank on Saturdays, when we were open for people to come in to get food parcels.
We successfully applied for funding to develop a Community Garden in the courtyard next to the Annexe, growing herbs and other things for the foodbank, providing gardening events for children and families, encouraging wildlife, providing a place for people to sit out with their drinks and snacks - and eventually a relaxing space for the whole community.
Alice Hawkins
We also discussed changing the name of the foodbank, as we were no longer in the Woodgate area of Fosse. People made a number of proposals, and the final decision, pending the agreement of her family, was to rename ourselves Alice Hawkins Community Projects, incorporating both the foodbank and our umbrella association into one and our aim to not be a foodbank..
Alice Hawkins was a suffragette, fighting for women’s right to vote back in the early part of the last century, who had lived in Mantle Road, opposite the Fosse Neighbourhood Centre. There had been a ceremony earlier in the year to commemorate her with a blue plaque on the wall of the house she had lived in.
Alice was a fighter for people’s rights, a champion of her local community, a role model for girls and women, and we felt she would be a great icon for our developing organisation. Thankfully, her family agreed, and so we were on the road to making a new enterprise, Alice Hawkins Community Projects. We also decided to become a Community Interest Company (a CIC).
Onward And Upward
We now have a settled community facility and currently providing a weekly foodbank for around 120 households, including deliveries to some very vulnerable members of our community, all with the support of an amazing group of volunteers - without whose time and commitment we simply couldn’t do what we do!
There are people volunteering for deliveries, for open sessions, for admin support, for managing stock, for cleaning,, for helping to run things, and many more.
Our community garden is created and growing giving volunteers and users a much needed space for wellbeing, to learn to grow and be connected to where food comes from.