‘People start walking around with their heads held high again.’

When Lisa joined Northwood Together Big Local in Merseyside, she never imagined there would be a need to feed hundreds of people each week. Now, having established partnerships with Morrisons and Liverpool Football Club, the Big Local’s food programme is a lifeline for many in the community.

Lisa’s story

On the days we run our food drop-ins at Northwood Together Big Local, we’ll have around 40 people queuing down the street from 8:30am. This happens twice a week, every week. Unfortunately, demand has gone through the roof.

When we asked people living in the area what some of the big issues were, most people talked about how difficult it was to afford food. That’s why we approached an organisation called Liverpool Zero Waste, which redistributes the food supermarkets are going to throw out.  

People in the community could come and take what they needed, no questions asked.”

We’d collect from them two mornings a week and they’d give us anything that was about to go to landfill, like bread, fruit and vegetables. People in the community could come and take what they needed, no questions asked. We ran this for a few months before the pandemic hit.  

During Covid, we’d deliver food parcels and activity packs every week to families. This included activities for the kids, like reading books and playing cards, plus adult colouring to keep families entertained. We delivered around 700 packs in around 18 months. 

Health and wellbeing after the pandemic

Coming out of the pandemic, we restarted our work with Liverpool Zero Waste and looked at other ways to help with food poverty.  

We’d heard that a new Morrisons supermarket was opening. They have community champions whose job it is to look at ways to help in the local area. As soon as it opened, we arranged for them to come and meet us. From there, we started to collect food and other items from Morrisons two days a week.  

The supermarket provides us with fresh fruit and vegetables, which residents appreciate because these are expensive. We also run a donation event once a month, where shoppers donate dry items like pasta and cereal. We put all these donations together for our twice weekly food drop-ins.  

Photo: Partnership members and volunteers, including Lisa, get together after their Easter event to debrief and have some lunch together. Photos: Local Trust/Matt Thomas

Following lockdown, we had a lot of people contacting us to say they were struggling with their mental health or had gained weight. So, we came up with Shape Shifters.  

We recruit 24 local people and provide them with gym memberships, and access to a nutritionist and personal trainer. They also get weekly talks on things like food preparation and meal ideas. Each group has a volunteer team leader.  

We’re on our fifth programme now and as well as losing weight, people make friends and improve their overall wellbeing.  

Making things better in Northwood

Before taking the job at Northwood Together, I’d worked at a housing association which covered Kirkby for over 25 years. I was used to talking to people from all kinds of backgrounds, dealing with governance and working with young people. I took redundancy from the housing association and wanted to try something different.  

As a paid worker, I wanted to see if I could help make things better in Northwood by working with residents and the Big Local partnership board. It’s among the top 10% of the most deprived areas in England.  

It has the usual issues that deprived neighbourhoods have, like child poverty, problems with drugs and guns, and anti-social behaviour. But the people I’d met from the area were always friendly and would help you out at the drop of a hat. 

In my first week in 2017, someone was raped and murdered in the area and another person was shot. My husband checked with me that the job was something I really wanted to do. Despite the problems, I felt strongly that it was.  

Engaging with the community

My role includes engaging the community to help inform the work of the volunteers and board members at Northwood Together.  

To begin with, residents didn’t have any trust in me. They thought I was part of the benefits agency. I set up a Facebook page and updated the website. I said to people that, if my car was in the Northwood Together car park and the office door was open, then they should come in and have a conversation.  

As people got to know me, they’d talk about how they felt about living in Northwood and what needed doing.”

At the time we were based in a community centre, so I’d grab people and ask them to get involved as they were coming in for other things. We ran engagement events where people could drop in for a free hot drink and cake. We’d have a laugh and a chat.  

As people got to know me, they’d talk about how they felt about living in Northwood and what needed doing. This helped influence the work of the partnership and fed into the Big Local plan.  

Working with a strong team of 15 volunteers, we started running events. We had coffee afternoons for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities. We also organised trips to Blackpool and handed out winter parcels for those in need. We put on a big carnival too.  

Working in partnership

Local businesses and organisations are generous with their support. Liverpool Football Club has donated signed shirts and food. They have their football academy here. The minute we knew the new academy was being built, we found out who their corporate social responsibility person was and set up a meeting.  

Each week, Liverpool FC donates 75 meals which we deliver to local people. There are no set criteria; if you need a hot meal we’ll always deliver. But it tends to be people who’ve had a change in circumstances or are waiting for Universal Credit.  

Between all our drop-ins, food parcels and meals, we’re feeding about 220 people a week. 

Lack of clothing is a problem too. We take clothing donations, then run regular pop-up boutiques where people can call in and look at all the clothes. They can have a cup of tea and a slice of cake and take clothes away. We regifted 400 items during the last boutique.

Providing training and volunteering opportunities

People might come to us for food, but then they tell us about debt or rent arrears, problems with domestic violence or mental health. Then we’re able to signpost them to other organisations that can help. People come to talk to us because they feel relaxed with our little team. 

We try to give people some volunteering experience, then encourage them back into education or training.”  

We work with lots of mums who might be looking for part time work after having their families. Many don’t have the confidence to get back out there or realise the skills they bring. We try to give them some volunteering experience, then encourage them back into education or training.  

We worked with Knowsley Family Education and Training to set up a project called Learning for Pleasure. It funded people to do courses, like flower arranging, nails and make-up, health and safety and food preparation. We’ve also helped people get maths and English qualifications.  

Once people start, their confidence skyrockets and it gives them the opportunities and skills they need to get into work. People start walking around with their heads held high again.

Photos: Families attend the Northwood Together Easter event. “We just love seeing families coming in and having a lovely time, having a bit of fun and something to eat,” says Lisa. Photo: Local Trust/Matt Thomas

We are due to close Northwood Together at the end of June 2024, but some of our board members and volunteers are now working towards setting up a community group. We’ve relocated to a different venue, which is free, and all of our current partners and stakeholders have agreed to work with the new group.  

It means that even with our work with Big Local coming to an end, the projects that have made such a difference will continue.  

Interview by Elspeth Massey

Top photo: Lisa Cover, Community Development Manager, outside the Northwood Together office. Photo: Local Trust/Matt Thomas

Find out more about how getting involved with Northwood Together Big Local built Vicky Williamson’s confidence and helped her get back into the workplace.