Sunderland-based community interest company, MBC Arts Wellbeing has this week donated 200 essential winter fuel packs to residents in Sunderland who are living in fuel poverty.
Having successfully secured a funding grant from the Social Enterprise Support Fund through the National Lottery Community Fund, MBC Arts Wellbeing spearheaded a campaign to identify and provide support to the most vulnerable people in the community through delivering food and fuel relief packages.
Each recipient received two bags, which included – hats, gloves, scarves, blankets, hot water bottles, dried & tinned foods, tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits, recipe cards and details on how to access community support.
Mark Burns Cassell, executive director of MBC Arts Wellbeing said, “It is a real pleasure to have been able to provide support and access to essential items to more than 200 people in Sunderland, during what is proving to be a very difficult third national lockdown.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Social Enterprise Support Fund for providing us with the resources needed to reach the most vulnerable in our communities. I’m proud that we have been able to play a role in alleviating fuel poverty and providing some respite to those who are struggling to put food on the table or stay warm.”
To reach those most in need, MBC Arts Wellbeing worked closely with key community-led organisations throughout Sunderland, including Friends of the Drop-In for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Sunderland, Home Group, Sunderland North Family Zone and Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen.
John Barlow, trustee of Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen added, “Covid-19 has brought many challenges to the charity sector, as members of society who would historically have been donors to charities, find themselves in need of their support. No more so than the folk of Sunderland.
“MBC Arts Wellbeing’s donation of over 100 winter packs to the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen will go a long way in providing much-needed warmth and sustenance in these trying times.”
