Hi everyone.

We are the Bideford community centre in Baguley M23 (opposite to McDonalds on Altrincham Road) and we would like to thank you for visiting our page.

I’ll get straight to the point of why we have opened this funding page and what we want and can do can do if you choose to support our valuable work. Quite simply we need £6000 to purchase a larger van so that we can do more for our community in Wythenshawe both now and in the future..

What work you may ask ……. well let me tell you more and if you need proof of what we can all do when we all work together and help each other just look at our twitter page Bidefordcommun1

During this recent pandemic we the Bideford volunteers have come together. We don’t get paid and neither does the boss our centre coordinator Kirsty Taylor and we work seven days a week. Due to some of our older volunteers having to distance during the virus meaning our staff numbers were less the supermarkets have stepped up to the plate and given us staff members to assist. The generosity given from all walks of life has enabled to feed in excess of 6000 people offering not only food but household items as well even yes wait for it Toilet rolls and sanitary products .

We have come together with Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and the Co-op who have been the most caring and sharing at this critical time. Many others be it restaurants, manufacturing companies , large and small shops, the airport and the ordinary man and woman on the street donated to make sure someone have food to eat and no one goes hungry. We have seen grown men and women cry in desperation at the loss of their jobs and the uncertainty of what would happen in the future. With your help we can get a bigger van and collect even more supplies to help these people in need. We are open everyday and the queues of people may all separate as per BOJO’S rule but they come together in that of their family needs and in the spirit of caring. It is as sight to see a spiral of people queuing down the road. At first they queued in silence and disbelief and now its as friends all in the same boat.

We have delivered to the elderly given Easter eggs out to people and even had fun on VE day ensuring no day past into oblivion and went unmarked. From day one we ensured we kept up the bulldog spirit as ,we sing we dance and we laugh tired feet or not.

We run normally in non pandemic times as a community centre and have many service users who are vulnerable with limited funds and we are the local hub for activity’s such as bingo , art, and quizzes . We have a range of people of different ages and they are a great group of people our numbers through the door was rising month by month but now we are amazed by how many know our name and use the centre to collect free food. We are Wythenshawe’s largest food bank , we run a bric-a-brac clothing shop called BB’s prices as low as 25p and we have an American diner and provide a free lunch every Thursday.

Some time ago we signed up to the food wastage scheme organised by Fair share and we were able to collect on certain nights the food from supermarkets and enable our service users to get some staples to make the money go further. We got everything from an avocado to a loaf of bread and many told us numerous times they had not eaten for days due to universal credit and sanctioning of benefits. We took part and help out the toy appeal and are able to provide many people with Christmas gifts for their children. We are a lifeline for both young and old and as our slogan says ‘We have time or everyone.’ We help the homeless, those in need and those who simply need a friendly face and a cuppa. We raise funds for good causes and we are dedicated to what we do. We have won many awards including pride of Manchester, best community centre I Manchester and even a gold award this year for our gardens from the RHS

You may be one of the lucky people who have managed come through this with not too much hardship but who could ever imagined this pandemic. It was the sort of story seen in a movie not in real life . How wrong we were .We never know what life brings us but if the time ever came when you need help we would like to think we would be here for you . IF you can donate then thank you and if you cant then please just remember our name and who we are The Bideford Centre. Baguley . Thank you.