Charity provides food and furniture to hundreds of people in the Midlands

Published by kerri smith for Reach the People Charity in Housing and also in Communities, Health

A leading Midlands charity is appealing for donations of food and furniture to keep up with demand after launching a food and furniture bank to help struggling customers keep food on the table and get settled in their new home.

Trident Reach the People Charity provides support to vulnerable people across the region including those at risk of homelessness, older people, young people, women fleeing domestic abuse and people with learning disabilities.

The charity has handed out food and furniture to 250 of its customers since starting to supply relief parcels in April 2011 to give a helping hand to its customers starting out in new homes. Since then the scheme has helped 247 vulnerable people and families across Birmingham, Shropshire, Derbyshire and the surrounding areas.

Head of Tenancy Support at Trident Reach, Rajbir Shergill, says the response from the local and wider communities has been overwhelming, but more donations are still needed to keep up with demand.

Raj said: “We have had so many generous donations. Last week we received over 1,000 plates from a local hotel. Another hotel also donated over 100 mattresses last year. We would like to thank everyone that has donated to our cause. But we still need more donations.

“These parcels have helped hundreds of people so far. A lot of customers that access our services come to us with nothing. They have no money or furniture and no benefits in place. It helps them as a start-up while they get settled and access other benefits that may be available to them. A food parcel supplies food for a whole week and the furniture donations help them to get started with the essentials at least.”

Trident Reach is specifically appealing for people to donate beds and mattresses at the moment, but also welcomes donations of all kinds of furniture, kitchen appliances, bedding, cutlery, crockery and any other household items.

Raj said: “We all have stuff hoarded away that we don’t need anymore. I would urge people to please donate their unwanted household items to us and enable us to help people that really need them.

“I would also appeal to any larger businesses that want to make bulky donations to get in touch so we can arrange this. We appreciate the support of local residents and businesses and hope that we can continue to provide this service to those customers that so desperately need it.”

To donate items to Trident Reach or to find out more about supporting the charity, call the head office on 0121 226 5800. Items can also be donated by taking them to Trident House in Granville Square, Birmingham City Centre.