Supporting families in North Manchester and beyond
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Recently, we shared devastating figures from research our charity has carried out, showing a huge increase in child poverty within Catholic schools in Greater Manchester and Lancashire over the last three years.
Here, Lorraine, who is part of our Lalley Centre team, tells us more about the many ways her work supports local families experiencing poverty…
Can you tell us who you are and what your role is at Caritas?
My name is Lorraine and I’m the Caritas Lalley Centre manager.
I have responsibility of managing the Lalley Centre along with the allotment and food provision manager who oversees the community pantry and the allotment. I am very frontline in my work and support people directly in one-one advice appointments and I also support our Thursday Friendship Group which is aimed at people aged over 55.
How does the Lalley Centre, Community Pantry and Allotment support local families, children and young people who are experiencing poverty?
We support families in several ways, including by giving information, advice and guidance to people experiencing poverty, helping them to reduce their outgoings and maximise their income.
We offer access to our community food pantry at low cost or no cost, depending on the circumstances of the family.
We also apply to organisations for grants towards replacing expensive items such as white goods and furniture, as well as signposting them to other charitable organisations for support such as for school uniforms or interview clothing.
The advice we offer can range from housing, benefits, employment, to school support and appeals – and much more.
We also welcome children and students from local schools to learn about the environment, growing and food on our allotment. A great amount of fun!
Have you noticed a rise in demand for what you offer there?
Since the increase in the cost of living and constantly rising energy bills, there has definitely been an increase in the number of people accessing the centre for food and energy support.
Once we start speaking with people it becomes clear that there are other needs which we have to address and these needs are issues deeper and more complex than needing food and support.
Struggling with rising costs can often lead to being unable to pay rent or heightened daily costs and this is where the one to one tailored support we provide becomes so important.
How do you meet the needs of people who come to see you? Do you work closely with them?
People can often feel apprehensive or overwhelmed when they first attend the Lalley Centre, and just walking through the doors can be incredibly challenging for them. Some have expressed their embarrassment ‘having to’ attend the food pantry, for example. We offer a welcoming, friendly, supportive, safe environment to help them feel comfortable and relaxed.
When people register at the Lalley Centre we let them know about the wrap around services we offer alongside the food pantry, such as one-to-one support on a range of issues, including housing, benefits, energy advice, parenting, budgeting support and so on.
Our priority is ensuring that people can navigate the systems around them and that are affecting them. It is not always possible to resolve the issues people present us with in the exact way they want, but we will always endeavour to find all the possible solutions. This may include making referrals to internal and external services if they need any specialised support such as immigration or legal advice too.
What are the positive ways that your support helps people?
We try make a positive impact on every person who walks through our doors, and hope they walk away feeling happy with the support they have received.
There is also the opportunity to take part as a community within the Lalley Centre, on the allotment, and offsite activities such as our wellbeing walking group (for anyone of any ability aged over 18) and the Thursday friendship group (for the over 55s).
We have various events and activities throughout the year in relation to practical knowledge, (such as basic IT skills, energy advice sessions, budgeting skills, health and wellbeing and social activities. This supports people to feel welcome, reduce isolation, and build up friendships in the hope that it opens other possibilities to enhance individual and family lives.
Read more about our child poverty in schools research and ways you can help now by clicking here.