As part of the recent launch of Tesco’s ‘Buy One to Help a Child’ campaign, three community champions from across Manchester are being honoured for their role in supporting children and young people across the region.
All three have worked hard for their community, from packing lunches for local school children to improving the environment through the renovation of a canal path.
First of the three commended Community Champions is Pride of Prestwich winner, Suzanne Done, who has been a community champion since March 2017. She keeps up to date on her community’s ever-changing needs by liaising closely with local groups and by keeping in touch with her town’s community pages on social media.
“I am so happy to be supporting local children” she says. “As there are no foodbanks in Prestwich, all the food donation work we do is vital to our community. We’ve worked closely with Parrenthorn High School in particular over the last year, providing packed lunches for lower income families, donating food parcels, and making up arts and craft packs to entertain the pupils.”
And her work has not gone unrecognised. As a 2021 ‘Pride of Prestwich’ winner, Suzanne has been praised for working hard as a key worker throughout the pandemic, feeding the homeless throughout the winter months, and most recently working on an inclusive memorial garden.
Nearby, in Greenfield, Greg Barratt began his journey as a community champion eleven years ago, joining the Greenfield store when it opened in 2010.
He says: “Colleagues at the Greenfield store appreciate how tightknit the local community is, so we always endeavour to support local initiatives where possible”.
The store’s community efforts include supporting Mahdlo Community Centre with donations and volunteering time to Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents’ Association, with the latter earning Greg a Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Services.
“I’m really proud of the work of the ‘Good Egg’ award scheme we’ve rolled out at schools across the area. It started off as a reward for generous and caring pupils at Knowsley Junior School, but has since taken off and we are now able to donate treats to do-good kids across Greenfield, rewarding for their time volunteering and caring for their fellow classmates.”
Not only has he managed to support local schools, he has also improved his local area for children and their families with the renovation of a two mile stretch of canal.
He added: “After years of hard work resurfacing, adding fencing we have managed to create a positive environment. It’s gone from been a foot deep in mud, inaccessible for prams and mobility scooters, to an inviting route lined with planters filled with strawberries and mint”.
Down the road in Baguley, Kieran Jones has been a community champion since 2009 and has been helping to support up to three thousand children and their families at Bideford Community Centre throughout the pandemic.
Kieran says: “Over the past year, we’ve seen all the local food banks close meaning that our work with Bideford Community Centre all the more vital. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been able to use my working hours to volunteer at the centre five day a week, supporting the Centre Co-Ordinator, Kirsty Taylor.”
“We were even able to fundraise over £7,000 for Kirsty last year, to purchase a van for her to help collect surplus food from Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme for use at the centre, be it for packed school lunches or food parcels for the local community.”
Currently, 2.3 million children in the UK live in households have experienced food insecurity in the last six months[i], a situation that has worsened during the pandemic.
To help ensure children do not miss out on meals Tesco is making a donation for every piece of fresh fruit and veg bought in its Manchester stores from July 19th to August 8th.
The three-week ‘Buy One to Help a Child’ campaign aims to provide up to three million meals for Tesco’s charity partner FareShare to redistribute to charities and local community groups like these supporting children.
