Wickes Community Programme supporting charities through the cost of living crisis
Home improvement retailer, Wickes, has seen numbers treble year on year of charities and community organisations seeking support through their community programme. T
he programme has already supported over 2000 projects with product donations. The highest demand is for soil, timber and other products to create well-being spaces in schools and community areas. Followed closely by products such as paint and filler to help maintain community spaces.
Local community investment company Neighbourly carried out a survey in March this year with 1,000 charities and community organisations. The survey revealed that:
- 86% have seen a rise in demand for support in the last 3 months
- 73% believe that the cost of living crisis has had a negative impact on financial donations received
- Total running costs (eg food, energy, bill, rent, transport etc) have increased by an average of 56% since this time last year with energy bills amounting to an average of 24% of their running costs
- 43% say their financial situation has deteriorated
- 36% believe the cost of living crisis has had a negative impact on the availability of volunteer support
Gary Kibble, Chief Marketing Officer at Wickes said: “Our community programme is in its second year and we are really proud to be making a material difference in the community during these challenging times. We’ve provided timber and soil to community allotments and schools to create raised beds. Paint to scout groups and new kitchens to community support groups. These are just some examples of the organisations that we have supported so far. Our aim is to help take the pressure off their fundraising efforts and we know our support is making a real difference to them. This year we are trialling a volunteer programme giving our colleagues the opportunity to support their community during the working week to make an even bigger difference.”
Terri Daniels from Tiptree Community hub said: “We took over an empty unit at the start of the year and with the help of Wickes, Samsung and Kronospan we have a really welcoming space. We are a group of volunteers and are totally reliant on donations to keep us going. Wickes and their suppliers have made a huge difference to our local community.”
Lisa Brown, Woodlands Business Manager Woodland Pre school said: “Creating the vegetable patch is a great way to teach children where food comes from. They are more likely to try new food groups if they’ve grown it themselves which will help them to make healthier choices in the future. We couldn’t have been able to do this project without the donations from Wickes.
The Wickes Community Programme is open to all local community groups seeking help for improvement projects. Any groups interested in applying for a product donation should head into their local store to speak to the store manager.
