WINNER in the Aviva UK Broker Community Fund 2024
(This project was nominated by West Craven Insurance Services in the Aviva UK Broker Community Fund 2024.)
We are extremely happy to report that Colne Open Door Centre were recognised for the wonderful work they do within their local community and they have been awarded £5,000 from the Aviva UK Broker Community Fund. Thank you AVIVA!
Q: What is the Aviva community fund awards?
A: The Aviva community fund helps local causes build stronger communities across the UK, Aviva believe that by caring more about local communities today, we can help them create a better future tomorrow.
Supporting you to build stronger, more resilient communities across the United Kingdom
Lead up to the big day!
Tuesday morning at Colne Open Door Centre:
We have two extremely excited staff members this evening!
Want to know why?
Tomorrow our deadly duo Catrina and Jessica are going to LONDON!
A huge thank you to Lisa H, Morgan and Lisa the Boss, from West Craven Insurance Services Ltd who nominated us for the AVIVA Brokers award.
Thanks to them we are delighted to be 1 of only 28 charities across the whole of the UK who made it to the final event.
What a remarkable achievement for a little charity in Colne!
So please wish us GOOD LUCK!
We can’t wait to represent our charity, the families and individuals that we support and of course….
YOU… the amazing people behind us who ensure we can continue to provide so much for our local community.
Looking back:
Reflecting on what was a wonderful day in London on Wednesday at the Aviva Broker Community Fund Awards. West Craven Insurance Services Ltd are over the moon that Colne Open Door Centre were recognised for the wonderful work they do within their local community and are very happy to confirm that they were awarded £5,000 from the fund which really will help the charity a great deal.
We would just like to say a Big Thank You to everyone who has contributed in any way.
The crowdfunding page remains open until 26.03.25
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/colne-open-door-centre
History of the Colne Open Door Centre:
The Open Door Centre is Vital in providing Financial well being to the local community. A not for profit community cafe, crisis service, free counselling services, food poverty.
The Open Door Centre aims to give people of mixed abilities/disabilities and disadvantage communities an equal advantage/chance in life with regards jobs, housing, employment and benefits, avoiding social isolation and poverty.
Over the last 12 months there has been a huge increase in food bank referrals, the money will help provide the necessary provisions for families and individuals struggling to make ends meet. They have an onsite cafe that provides free meals for children including breakfast club and highly subsidised meals (£3.50 max) where people can have a warm meal and meet others. The cafe is the hub of the charity and people are encouraged to go and socialise as well as receiving the care they need. The need for these services has more than doubled in numbers from last year, some weeks there can be upwards of 30 food parcels per week going out to the Pendle and Ribble valley area, this shows what a vital job they are doing and how much of a difference they are making to the local community.
The money could extend to other services such as more counselling being offered for individuals with addiction issues or coming from domestic violence relationships and other mental health problems.
The Charity also assists the elderly living with completing forms, and dealing with updated technology such as gas/electric, other bills and benefits that can only be accessed online.
Over the last 12 months they have helped with housing crisis’s and prevented homelessness in which they have seen a 50% increase, this can include speaking the local authority re housing and other local charities that are able to assist.
Here at West Craven Insurance Services Ltd we helped with their Christmas Appeal, we did this by raising money and gifts/toys for children. the charity provides toys/gifts and Christmas hampers including food to those at risk of going without at Christmas time. Last Christmas they provided 527 toys to children that were classed as vulnerable and 432 Christmas hampers to families in need.
Financial Wellbeing –
The Open Door Centre has financial wellbeing for our community at the very forefront of the crisis services that we provide. The charity is located in the deprived ward of Waterside in Pendle, an area of declining employment and high social deprivation. Pendle has the highest level of child poverty of any UK local authority, with 43.2 per cent of children under the age of 16 living in relatively low income families.
These worrying statistics emphasise that supporting financial wellbeing for our community is a key priority for our charity, we strive to ensure that many families and individuals do fall into serious financial difficulty and we work hard to help support members of our community out of debt and into a period of financial stability.
There are many ways that the charity supports with financial wellbeing, for example, we offer budgeting support for families and individuals who are facing financial difficulty, and of which is having an impact on a person’s mental health. We see first-hand how financial difficulty causes a person’s mental health to plummet, for some people the hole they find themselves can feel impossible to leave behind, they feel like they are trapped and helpless. This is where we offer guidance, support and hope, we work with agencies on behalf of our community members to reduce debts and put affordable payment plans in place. We make a lasting difference to a person’s financial wellbeing, not just for a week or a month, but for their future moving forward.
We work with our community to check if you eligible to get extra help or money. We support individuals and families in our community to claim benefits or increase your current benefits if they’re struggling to afford essential things – such as food and housing. You could be a pensioner on a low income, sick or disabled, responsible for children or a carer. We will assist you to apply for additional financial support, for example, if you are elderly and struggle with the online world.
We provide food parcels to families and individuals who are struggling financially, the prevention of food poverty is a key part of the charity’s ethos. The Colne Open Door Centre is situated in Colne, in the borough of Pendle. Pendle has the highest level of child poverty of any UK local authority, with 43.2 per cent of children under the age of 16 living in relatively low income families. The charity has various schemes to assist with food poverty, such as our “Kids Eat Free Forever” scheme, which ensures every child in our local area has access to a free hot meal. The charity operates a food bank, which is now the most utilised in Pendle, and also provides free hot meals and drinks to the homeless and most vulnerable in our community. Our food bank is heavily utilised by statutory services such as social services, NHS teams, schools and colleges. The charity ensures that if a family visits the Open Door Centre on a regular basis for food poverty we take the steps to spend time with them to find out the root cause of their problems and find a solution to address this. We work hard to ensure that a family or individual does not become reliant on a food bank and support them towards healthy financial wellbeing.
And we provide all of this support for FREE.
There is never a cost for support at our charity.
