We were recently welcomed on a visit to Blacon Beacon to experience the vital work they undertake within their community, following a grant awarded from The Chester Bluecoat Charity to allow them to extend their reach.
Blacon Beacon helps individuals and families who are struggling with the rising cost of living by offering food advice and help to attain nutritious food at a reasonable and affordable price.
The skills and recipes they share have long term health and wellbeing benefits for each individual and their family members. Blacon Beacon regularly supports and empowers over 450 Blacon residents each week through;
- weekly bags of affordable fresh and ambient food
- running slow cooker courses for local households
- running face-to-face cooking courses for adults, teenagers and children
- giving out monthly recipe bags for use in slow cookers.
- provision of free meals and activities for families during the school holidays (HAF programme)
- holding a Foodbank hub
Blacon Beacon applied to The Chester Bluecoat Charity for funding in order to be able to employ an administrative assistant. The creation of this role allows the charity to be able to reach more people across the community, have more resources to be able to source cheaper food and would allow the charities manager to be able to offer more support to those who truly need it. The charity has seen a large amount of volunteers unable to offer as much time as previously, thanks to the cost of living crisis, which has occurred at the same time as the number of people asking them for help has increased.
After reviewing their application, The Chester Bluecoat Charity was delighted to be able to offer Blacon Beacon £10,000 in order to be able to employ an administrative assistant for a year to enable the further development of the Blacon Beacon’s work during the Cost-of-Living crisis.
