9. Experience Project

In 2019, the Southend and Leigh Methodist circuit had a vision to reach out to the community and utilise the building that, up until that point, was being used as a rental property for various groups. Their objective was to meet the needs of a very deprived community that was suffering from multiple levels of deprivation. In the past 5 years the project has grown significantly and we have 24 partners that collectively support 1,850 families a week with food provisions, which has put a strain on operational elements of the project. From the onset of the project, the aim was to invite members of the community to volunteer and contribute to the direction and running of the project. This has been made possible through corporate relationships with two national supermarkets that donate in the region of £1,000,000 worth of goods per annum. We now have over 16 community champions, one of whom is now a full time member of staff. The Whittingham Estate is situated between the two poorest wards in Southend - there is no community centre on the estate nor is there any other foodbank within our locality and the families we support come from the most forgotten pockets of deprivation in the area.

The community we serve falls within the 10% most deprived areas in England (IMO 2019), with child poverty over 50%, child protection levels much higher than local and national levels, domestic violence and addiction and social isolation are commonplace with county lines drugs, gangs etc. all taking advantage of the vulnerability of the local community. The cost of- living crisis has only exacerbated the situation with increased mental health issues, poor diet and nutrition and a lack of community safe spaces. Over the past two years, the project has grown exponentially to meet the growing need during and post the pandemic and we are now the first point of contact for over 250 immediate families within the area, providing advocacy, foodbank and community.