In The News

18 Jun 2009 West Briton
Highway Food Bank Initiative

THE CREDIT crunch has hit Falmouth and Penryn so hard that local people in urgent need are to be offered emergency food parcels.
A food bank is being set up which will provide supplies to people affected by the worst financial crisis in decades. Volunteers will collect food donations and redistribute them on a voucher system.
Each pack will include enough food for three days, containing nutritionally balanced dried and tinned items.
Early days
The project has been initiated by Highway Church, but includes other churches.
Interest in helping has been shown by the university campus at Tremough, local councillors and Falmouth Churches Together.

Harvey Crook, of Highway Church, said: "The project is still in its early days. We need to confirm locations and contact points as well as raise £1,300 for the registration fee and other items."
It is hoped they will be in a position to launch by the autumn. Initially it will just serve Penryn and Falmouth, but be extended if demand and support allow.
He said: "The vision for the food store project is to help individuals and families in crisis. Three days is often the critical gap before the social services safety net kicks in. We would collect food at local supermarkets, either through the front door from the public, or the back door from the stores. We plan on distributing from a couple of locations, one in Penryn and one in Falmouth. Ideally we would like to distribute the food boxes from a coffee shop in each town. The need is often out of sight. There are pockets of deprivation in both Falmouth and Penryn."

People in need will be identified through family services such as Sure Start, GP surgeries, citizen advice bureaus, local churches and social workers.

Network
The project is being set up through the Tressell Trust, which operates a network of food banks across the country. To register and get the training and support required, the group needs to find £1,260. A donation of £250 has come from local business Watson Marlow.

Mr Crook said: "Long-term we aim to fund this project through donations from local businesses, residents and churches. Our initial plan is to operate through volunteers and as the project grows, to generate enough revenue to find a part time project coordinator."
A committee is being formed with David Ward, the pastor of Highway Church as the sponsor.

Anyone who can help is asked to contact Mr Ward on 01326 212027.

19 Jan 2008 Falmouth Packet

Penryn church receives sponsorship

A growing programme of indoor and outdoor sports activity for the children and youth of Penryn has won the backing of a Cornish property developer building new homes in the town.

Redruth-based Lowena Homes has agreed a sponsorship deal initially worth over £3,000 for Penryn Highway Church, which recently launched its "Youth Space" project as part of Youth Initiative Penryn at Penryn Rugby Club and also organises water sports at various locations.

The company will fund a "shopping list" including an air hockey table, table tennis table and bats, boxing training equipment and gloves, kayak, play boat, paddles, buoyancy aids, rounders and cricket sets, volleyball net and ball, play parachute and folding football goals.

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Lowena will also provide ongoing promotional support for the church, which is 15 years old and whose members run a wide variety of activities and services in the community despite lacking a home of its own.

The church's new sponsorship arrangement is one of several such awards to be announced by Lowena after its public invitation to Cornish sports people and organisations to apply for financial support.

The company plans to make at least one sports sponsorship award in every area where it builds new homes. In Penryn, it is currently building low-cost apartments at "Newport", off College Hill, and "Treveth", in Tresooth Lane, designed for young home-seekers who could not otherwise get onto the property ladder.

Pastor David Ward, who co-founded the church with his wife Jill, said: "As a church, we are committed to investing in the youth and children of Penryn, which is a dynamic and growing community but which currently only has a limited number of sports activities and facilities.

"We as a church look forward to working with Lowena Homes and other sponsors to increase the facilities available for the young people of the community. We will only feel the job is achieved when every age group from toddlers to young people have access both to indoor and outdoor activities."

Lowena managing director David Worlledge said: "It has been a very difficult task to make the sponsorship selections from so many worthy applicants, but we felt that Penryn Highway Church was an exceptionally worthy candidate for all the good it is already doing in the community and for its aspirations towards further growth."