Our Charities
Throughout the year we support our core charities below.
The Trussell Trust
We support a nationwide network of food banks and together we provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
There are more than 1,200 food bank centres in our network, about two thirds of the food banks in the UK. We support these food banks to provide a minimum of three days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food to people who have been referred in crisis (for instance by advice agencies, GPs, social services and schools), as well as support to help people resolve the crises they face.
More than 14 million people in the UK live below the poverty line. We understand that every person’s struggle with poverty is different and that it takes more than food to end hunger. So we bring together the experiences of food banks in our network, and their communities, to challenge the structural issues that lock people in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
Little Village
Little Village supports families with babies and children under five living in poverty across London. We run a baby bank network, collecting, sorting and passing on pre-loved clothes and equipment. Parents are also supported by our dedicated signposting and guidance team, who offer advice and links to other services. In addition, we work with families to share their stories and campaign to fix the systems that trap them in poverty.
Since we launched in 2016, Little Village has fulfilled more than 32,000 requests for support and provided more than £9.8m worth of baby equipment and clothes.
Our values of love, solidarity, thriving and sustainability underpin everything we do.
Spiti Projects
The Charity was set up by Joan Pollock in 1993. Joan started her career as a nurse and later moved onto the Travel business in the 1980s. In 1992 Joan was in visiting Manali, Himachel Pradesh, India. During her stay, a Doctor from the Lady Willingdon Hospital invited her to a slide show at the hospital on the Spiti Valley.
The valley had been closed to the outside world since 1959. Joan was overwhelmed by the beauty of this isolated valley and concerned to see the desolation of the people. When asked if she would help to raise money to build a hospital in Kaza, she was delighted and became totally committed to helping to improve the health, hygiene and general wellbeing of the local people of the valley.
Since then the charity has successfully built a Mission Hospital, Mane Village School and Mane Village Clinic. We have also set up a Child Sponsorship Scheme, a Mud Brick Project, and Knit for Spiti, creating opportunities for communities to get involved and participate in helping Spiti Projects grow.