ONWARD HOMES COMMITS TO 1,200 VOLUNTEERING HOURS

Onward, a leading North West housing association, has pledged 1,200 hours of volunteering time to support a range of community projects across the region this year. The new target is 200 hours more than last year and represents the organisation’s commitment to making a positive difference in its communities.

Over the past year, Onward’s volunteering programme has supported 64 worthwhile causes across Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Cheshire, with colleagues providing over 900 hours of volunteering time in the last twelve months.

Colleagues from across the organisation are encouraged to get out into the local community and provide hands on support to a range of community projects. Onward’s dedicated Social Investment Team works with groups that provide essential services throughout the North West, identifying funding opportunities or brokering partnerships to provide these organisations with the tools to deliver their services.

Onward has been involved in a range of projects, including The Food Pantry in Salford, a service to help local people to purchase low-cost good quality food, ran by St James Church. The Church also offer a space for people to access advice and support. The Church also provides hot meals free from their own funds at St James and is a "hub" for Manchester City Council's food crisis response team delivering food parcels on their behalf.

Part of St James Church in Lower Broughton, The Food Pantry provides a significantly discounted grocery shopping experience three days a week for people of all ages in the local community. Customers can shop for £15 - £20 worth of goods including fresh veg, cereals, tinned food, dairy, and meat/meat-free options, all for only £2.50. The produce is provided through donations via the national FairShare charity scheme and Tesco.

Volunteers from Onward can help out at The Food Pantry by preparing vegetables for hot meals, taking in deliveries of stock and preparing food for sale.

Onward is now building on this success and has pledged 1,200 hours to increase its capacity to support more worthwhile causes throughout 2022.

Andrew Lord, Head of Neighbourhood Services, at Onward said:

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“Our volunteering programme provides colleagues with an make a positive difference to our communities. The new volunteering target is our most ambitious to date and is another example of our commitment to making The Onward Difference.

Colleagues from across the organisation are encouraged to step out of their day job and volunteer, which provides them with a chance to experience first-hand the incredible work that local organisations do across our region. Working closely with community organisations helps us to foster stronger relationships and spot opportunities to do more together. We look forward to building on our success and supporting more worthwhile causes in the future.”