St Anns Advice Centre

St Ann’s and Sneinton food bank has seen an unprecedented increase in need during the Coronavirus pandemic and we are struggling to meet demand. We are asking for donations of clean unwanted clothes, which we can sell for cash to buy much needed food. These will be sold for rags so the condition of the items is not important so long as they are clean.

We can accept any of the following clean items

• Clothes
• Shoes
• Handbags and belts
• Curtains and bedding

If you can help, please drop off items at the Chase Neighbourhood Centre. The ideal time to drop off would be Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2-4pm but if you can’t make that time then not to worry, we are open every weekday between 9-3pm. Unfortunately we are not currently able to collect any items due to lack of capacity – thank you for your understanding.

A short interview with Rory Mountford Lisle who is raising money for the St Ann’s and Sneinton food bank this weekend.

What are you going to do exactly?
I am going to walk up my stairs 264 times, which is 3650 ft, the equivalent of Mount Snowdon. I’m really excited and looking forward to it though.

A video featuring UK residents and people of foreign heritage reciting an anti-racist poem has highlighted the crucial role immigrant workers are playing in the Covid-19 outbreak. You can watch it here.

A short video message from our manager, from Debbie Webster, can be found on our Facebook page. Unfortunately our website isn’t swanky enough to host videos.

http://www.facebook.com/stannsadvice/

“I just wanted to send a heartfelt Thank You and Well Done to you, and your teams, for all you are doing during these testing times. Not just as a councillor, but as a St Ann’s resident and mum. Please do pass on my huge appreciation to your workmates, you’re the beating hearts of our community and city, and I know you’ll do all you can, for as long as you safely can.” Cllr Chantal Lee

Our centre is shut and we are all missing Karen’s delicious cooking at The Swirling Teaspoon community cafe. However, this isn’t stopping our staff from continuing working hard to support our local community.

This photo shows Rachel, Jo and Karen sorting out donations for the food bank, which is seeing a steady increase in demand during this difficult time. We are very thankful for all the support that is helping us meet rising level of need.

Lisa’s phone has been fielding calls from the public, triaging calls to the correct advisor. She really is as friendly as she looks, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any support (details can be found here).

Each morning, the lovely Sally braves the queue for the local Post Office collection office for paperwork needed to help clients. Then, the wonderful Parveen and Denise scan all the post and email it to our advice staff, who are working hard from home. Collections of shredded paper are on hold so it looks like we might be able to start up a soft play centre for hamsters before this is over!

Even the pets have stepped in to “help” during this difficult time, by making sure our desks remain warm the minute we leave our work stations.

Steph’s dog Izzy remains unimpressed by her tireless efforts to coordinate donations from across the city and beyond – since the food is going direct to the centre and she is not getting any of it!

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon. Bye for now from your temporary web editor, Annie and my little helper

#COVIDー19 risks pushing millions more families into problem debt. With 80 other orgs we’re calling for urgent action: freeze on debt payments (interest-free), help with rent & bills, write-off Council Tax & benefit debt

#Coronavirus #EndTheDebtTrap

See the full letter here:

Letter_-Covid-19-and-the-Household-Debt-Trap_FINAL