Groundsure’s 2020 Christmas charity support

2020 was an incredibly tough year for many with COVID-19 hitting everyone hard, with some people being more affected than others. Specifically, the charity sector took a severe blow, which would have a huge knock-on effect on those desperately in need.

This Christmas Groundsure and Mining Searches UK decided that, rather than overindulging with mince pies and prosecco, we would support a few charities chosen by our people, some of which are very close to our hearts.

As we have offices in Brighton and Cornwall, and with staff all over the country, we decided to support two local charities in each location and one national charity.

FareShare Sussex
Each year, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of good food is wasted, when at the same time, millions of people are struggling to afford to eat. FareShare Sussex redistributes food industry surplus and provides it to the people that need it most. In 2019-2020 FareShare Sussex delivered 675 tonnes of food to 141 charities and communities groups feeding over 12,000 people each week. Since the COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of 2020, there was an unprecedented demand for their services and they managed to triple the amount of food delivered on a monthly basis. In July alone, they provided enough food for 380,952 meals. “Without FareShare there would be greater poverty and hunger for our service users, including children going without meals” – a FareShare Sussex Charity.
To find out more visit: https://faresharesussex.org.uk/

Off The Fence
Off The Fence is a Brighton-based charity that for over 20 years has had the vision to see an end to social and spiritual poverty in Brighton and Hove. In 1993, CEO Paul Young and his wife, Wendy, made the decision to go out into the streets of Brighton and Hove giving our sleeping bags, clothes and hot drinks. The team of two quickly turned into four and now there are over 150 volunteers. Off The Fence now operates across three key areas: homelessness, women at risk and schools and youth, providing a sanctuary and security for those who need it most.
To find out more visit: https://www.offthefence.org.uk/

Refugee Action
Everyone has the right to safe asylum as a basic human right, which is why we chose Refugee Action as our national charity. Globally, at least 79.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 26 million refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18. The number of refugees is only marginal, but still, they don’t have a safe place to live. There are over 133,000 refugees in the UK who have fled their home countries due to war, persecution, violence and terror. Refugee Action helps those individuals and families by giving them a warm welcome by helping them integrate into society, giving them their dignity back, supporting them through challenging times and giving them a future they do not need to fear.
To find out more visit: https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/

Camborne, Pool and Redruth (CPR) Foodbank
The Camborne, Pool & Redruth Foodbank offer a truly vital lifeline for many struggling families in Cornwall. It relies on donations in order to deliver healthy meal options to those in need of a little extra support in the Duchy. In October 2020 alone the independently run organisation handed out over 14,000 meals to around 450 families. CPR continued to support families and individuals throughout the first national lockdown, donating over 25,000 meals to those in need.
The money donated will make such a huge difference to the people living in the Camborne, Pool & Redruth areas, some of the most impoverished areas in the Country and will allow the CPR Foodbank to continue their incredible work for what hopefully will be many more years to come.
To find out more visit: http://cprfoodbank.co.uk/

CLEAR Cornwall
CLEAR are a Cornwall based charity dedicated to the highest levels of care and support for people of all ages impacted by abuse and other emotional trauma. They offer 1-2-1 therapy for people of all ages and are focused on preventing, reducing and helping people to recover from the harm caused by sexual violence, abuse, exploitation and other traumatic incidents. It costs around £500 to deliver one course of therapy to a survivor of emotional trauma and those sessions can truly help them onto the road to recovery.
The money donated to CLEAR this Christmas will enable them to continue delivering their indispensable service to those in need and potentially save a life.
To find out more visit: https://clearsupport.net/