Cherry Tree Project, providing a lifeline to communities in Stockport
A foodbank, a volunteer support hub and a warm spaces refuge, the Cherry Tree Project in Romiley, formed as a Community Interest Company in January 2019 with St Chad’s Church by local volunteer Rachel Bresnahan, is a fantastic and increasingly valuable resource connecting and supporting local communities.
Now, as we face renewed challenges in our daily lives, brought about by the current increases in the daily cost-of-living, the work of the Cherry Tree project and their volunteers who provide support and advice, has hardly been more relevant, important and necessary.
Volunteers are vital at Cherry Tree Project
Their team of around 30 volunteers provide a fantastic service in supporting Cherry Tree’s clients making food parcels, collecting and delivering food, making tea and coffee, chatting to people and loving the community really well!
The youth volunteers design all our programmes, fundraise and do all the marketing.
They also offer benefit and job support as part of the food provision and have volunteers on hand to help people contact bill providers or use the internet
Support from local lad and Strictly star Will Mellor
Born in Bredbury with family connections in Romiley, Will contacted the kids at the start of his strictly journey and has offered to look after them and make us him main charity. Cherry Tree Project are even getting a % of the ‘Team Will T Shirt’ sales and he’s posted some lovely things about the project on the socials.
Helping to feed families
Their most recent project is with SMBC (HAF), FareShare and Manchester United. Cherry Tree will be providing 50 families with recipe books created by top Man Utd chefs, ingredients packs funded through HAF and slow cookers provided by FareShare. “We hope this encourages families to eat healthier whilst using less energy :)”
Activities and Warm Spaces
Originally a youth-led community group that supports young people throughout the year with regular weekly sessions and holiday activities, Cherry Tree Hub is also a Foodbank and designated ‘Warm Space’, providing respite and a warm welcome to anyone in the community.
The group is open to all ages, currently running four youth groups, three warm spaces, and two food banks and a chair based exercise group – for more information follow their group on Facebook
By joining the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, Cherry Tree Project has allowed children in Romiley to have exciting school holidays, ensure they are provided with food and a variety of activities, and they have even expanded their reach as a direct result of HAF.
Its regular weekly programme of activities has something for everyone including:
Monday 5 -7pm – open to all ages
Tuesday 10-1pm – Food Hub/ Warm Space
Tuesday 5-6pm – open to all ages / 6-8pm – Team Alpha
Wednesday 12-2pm – Black & White films – free drinks and hot snacks
Wednesday 5-6pm – open to all ages / 6-8pm – Youth Volunteers
Thursday 10-12pm – Food Hub/
Friday 12-2pm – Activities for Golden Oldies booking essential
Friday 2-3.30pm – Warm Space
Friday 3.30-5.30pm – open to young people
Pop in during the day for company, keep out of the cold and enjoy a Warm Space
Rachel, founder and one of the group’s project leaders, said:
“When we started the project, the kids on the estate were sometimes viewed as not being as good, or not being as clever, or not having as much opportunity as the kids that live outside of the estate.
“These kids are now leaders in their community, there’s now a large group of teenagers who know their worth and who have an opportunity to have a voice, and that’s the really my favourite impact.
“They’ve done amazing work and have taken the project to places I never could have taken it.”
Cherry Tree project is a part of the Stockport Food Network,
a collection of organisations working together to fight food poverty. At the height of the lockdown, their teenage volunteers provided 150 cooking packages and 150 food parcels every week as they worked hard all through the lockdown. Since March 2020, they have supplied 3089 ingredient packs and at least 12,356 meals to families during the lockdowns and school holidays.
The group hold regular fundraiser activities to enable them to carry on their important work in the community. The next official fundraiser will be in April 2023 when a group of adults will be hiking along Hadrian’s wall to raise money for the Stockport food network.
Community Stars
In October 2022, Stockport’s Vernon Building Society has announced that Cherry Tree project was one of its five Community Stars that will share its £2,000 community fund for the third quarter of 2022. Over 2,600 members of the public voted, and the Cherry Tree Project was awarded £700.
Donate to the Cherry Tree Project here: https://gofund.me/23b02433
#StockportFoodbank / #StockportCommunity Hub / #StockportWarm Spaces
