Community

Kingsgate Community Church

Care Zone, Peterborough Foodbank and Parnwell Community Hub

At KingsGate Community Church, we are passionate about serving the city of Peterborough by making a positive difference in the local community. For many years we have supported people in crisis through our Care Zone project and more recently through our involvement in Peterborough Foodbank. Care Zone is an innovative furniture recycling project that takes public donations of furniture and gives them to families in crisis. Peterborough Foodbank, which recently marked its fifth anniversary, is a partnership of nine faith groups from across the city.

The Foodbank tackles hunger and food poverty by providing emergency food parcels, containing three days’ food, to people in financial crisis. Last year, Care Zone furnished more than 650 houses and Peterborough Foodbank gave out 38 tonnes of food which equated to over 900,000 meals. These projects reach out to people who often are facing real difficulties. For example, a woman recently visited Care Zone looking for help. She had fled a violent domestic situation with her children and had been forced to leave everything behind. She had found somewhere to live but had no furniture and had not eaten for several days. Peterborough Foodbank provided food for the family, Care Zone provided basic furniture items, and she was given information on where she could seek further help for her situation. Practical support made an enormous difference to this family.

With this in mind, we are very excited that the Care Zone and Foodbank projects are launching a new joint service based at St Mark’s Church, Lincoln Road, every Wednesday from 11am to 2pm. People referred to this centre will be able to get food, furniture, and signposting to agencies that can help with financial matters. Furthermore, KingsGate has recently launched Parnwell Community Hub in partnership with a number of local residents’ groups and other organisations.

The purpose of this is to find out what the needs of the local community are, and to meet these needs. It has already been identified that loneliness and social isolation are issues that local people are concerned about so the Parnwell Community Hub has recently launched Parnwell Grand Adults, a community group for older people living in and around Parnwell. This group provides an opportunity to make new friends and to enjoy activities such as quizzes, armchair exercise, and day trips. The positive impact of this group is already being felt by local residents; one lady recently attended and broke down in tears as it was the first time she had spoken to anyone in a week. Parnwell Grand Adults meets at 10am every Wednesday morning at Club Caliente.

The Parnwell Community Hub is also working with The City College to offer free English Classes for anyone who does not speak English. These are eight-week courses taking place at Club Caliente on Monday mornings for anyone wanting to improve their English skills and make new friends. We consider it a privilege to serve local residents and communities in Peterborough, and we could not do this without the support of volunteers who freely give their time to help others.

To find out more about these projects or make a donation of food or furniture, please contact: Care Zone e: t: 01733 575083
Peterborough Foodbank: e: t: 01733 234165 / 01733 311156
KingsGate Community Church meet every Sunday at 9:15am and 11:30am at 2 Staplee Way, Parnwell, PE1 4YT, and all are welcome.

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