Bishop Auckland Town Council are passionate about supporting the community and earlier this year pledged £2,000 to provide meals for children during the school holidays to help tackle hunger. The first part of this project took place during the Easter Half Term and it has been brought back for the May Half Term.
The project for the May Half Term will once again see Auckland Youth and Community Centre along with Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre providing hearty meals and boredom busting activity packs to those children in need during the school holiday.
Working together Auckland Youth and Community Centre (AYCC) and Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre provided food and activity packs for almost 500 children in just eight days of the Easter School break. As the need and demand for this type of provision is high, therefore project has been extended into the May half term holiday.
Mayor of Bishop Auckland, Councillor Katie Eliot has said “As a Town Council it is vital that we support projects of this nature to ensure our local people are helped during their time of need. We cannot thank community projects like Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre and AYCC enough for their hard work and the care they offer to those that need our help.”
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Jamie Blackburn, who represents Woodhouse Ward, is passionate about helping the local community and is proud that Bishop Auckland Town Council are able to support these community organisations again. Councillor Blackburn has said of the project “As a re-elected Town Councillor for Woodhouse Close Ward, I regularly see the the Auckland Youth and Community Centre and Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre hard at work in our community. It is a real shame that we have to provide such services to ensure children of our town don’t go hungry during the school holidays, but Bishop Auckland Town Council will always work hard and continue to support services and groups which assist our residents. Bringing the project back for the May Half Term means we can provide a little additional support for even more families that need it”.
Anne Ramshaw from Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre has said “Once again we would like to thank Bishop Auckland Town Council for their support with this project to help the people of the town. We feel that through these very difficult times any help we can give to families facing hardship situations is crucial and lets them know that we care about both the people in our community as well as the community itself”.
(Picture, example lunch from Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre)
David McCreedy from AYCC has said of the support through May Half Term, “AYCC are looking forward to working again with Bishop Auckland Town Council to provide food and activities for families in the local area. We will be providing good, nutritional meals and activities packs which will keep the children entertained. Staff will also be on hand if those who access the meals and activity packs are also in need of additional support.”
(Picture, Natalie Fox, Community and Youth Worker, AYCC)
Between the two community groups, Bishop Auckland Town Council will be helping to provide meals Monday to Friday during the week long May Half Term break.
Please contact Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre or AYCC directly to book your meal. If you need support or would like donate either community project, please do get in touch with AYCC on 01388 604575 (option 3) or Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre on 01388 602935.
