Providence Row is to receive an Esmée Fairbairn Foundation grant, it was announced today. The charity has been given £103,985 to help develop their three year Food Programme, which aims to use food growing and preparation as a means for homeless and vulnerably housed people to develop a healthy lifestyle away from homelessness and rough sleeping.
Providence Row’s Food Programme includes cookery-based learning and training schemes which give clients an opportunity to take responsibility, improve motivation and develop important skills which helps them into the job market. As part of the programme clients will also be growing food on site in our roof garden, keeping bees and reducing waste through composting. They will also have the opportunity to get involved with events and activities such as the Providence Row Bakery, the charity’s fledgling social enterprise.
Providence Row’s services, which include crisis support, advice, recovery and learning programmes for homeless and vulnerably housed people, tackle the root causes of homelessness to help people get off, and stay off, the streets.
Commenting on the grant, Pam Orchard said: “We are incredibly grateful to The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for supporting this environmentally and financially sustainable scheme. Although many charities provide food for homeless and vulnerably housed people, our Food Programme offers real opportunities for our clients to build on their skills, knowledge and confidence, helping them turn their lives around. ”
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for people and communities throughout the UK both now and in the future. They do this by funding the charitable work of organisations with the ideas and ability to achieve positive change.
The Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK. They make grants of £30 - £35 million annually towards a wide range of work within the arts, education and learning, the environment and social change. They also operate a £26 million Finance Fund which invests in organisations that aim to deliver both a financial return and a social benefit.