Charity shares ‘invaluable support’ from Northamptonshire Community Foundation – in final push to reach appeal target

A Northampton charity supporting the African community has shared how much of a difference Northamptonshire Community Foundation (NCF) has made to them, in the final push for the Poverty Hurts appeal to reach its £40,000 target.

The United African Association, in Kingsthorpe Road, was formed to advise, support, advocate and represent individuals and organisations within the African community.

They organise events, projects and activities to promote the culture and heritage to people in the UK, and are dedicated to improving the quality of life of those who now live in this country.

Since April 2020, they have been running a weekly food parcel programme to assist the most vulnerable – and all of this vital work would not have been possible without the support of NCF.

The association was first set up in 2014 and project coordinator Anne Wankiiri has been there since the very start.

She told Chronicle & Echo that NCF is one of their most generous donors and over the past eight years they have received around £40,000 towards the services they offer.

Not only has this gone towards their food bank, but a lot of the money was put towards a collaborative project between themselves and other African organisations, supporting people in the north of the county.

Anne said: “NCF provided their support during the height of the pandemic when some people were starving. One man was brought to our attention and he hadn’t eaten for four days.

“With the support of the foundation, we were able to feed him and when we arrived to give him his parcel, he was too weak to carry it into his home.”

The project coordinator also told of a woman who suffered domestic abuse and had been thrown out by her husband. When she fled, she did not have a GP and could not seek medical treatment.

The woman frequently visited the United African Association’s offices, always “tearful”. Now, with the help of the association, she has turned her life around after securing accommodation, registering with a doctor and being referred to the Red Cross immigration services who have given her legal aid.

“This is the first time in 20 years that she can see a future,” said Anne. “She has been living in fear and wanted to get help. She now feels like part of a community and has even been having IT classes to learn how to use a computer.”

Though the food bank is available to anyone, the parcels contain African ingredients as the majority of individuals are African or African-Caribbean. However, Anne shared they do have a lot of others from Hungary, India and England utilising their services.

The main aim when the food bank scheme was started at the height of the pandemic was to support those with no public funds among the African community.

Anne says many of the African individuals were working in jobs where there was a high risk of getting the virus, such as carers, and to reduce the risk of infection, staff working hours were reduced – meaning they had no income or benefits to live on.

The United African Association was offering one-to-one support prior to the pandemic, but this “ballooned” when immigration, housing issues and homelessness were rife during and after, says Anne.

NCF also helped facilitate the work the association was doing to help those who could not travel during the pandemic and those not eligible for the vaccine when it was rolled out as they had no GP.

The association set up specialist centres to give them the vaccine and then helped them all register with doctors.

Anne said: “The work NCF does is invaluable. Without them, we would have struggled. As they’re local, they are really aware of the work we do.

“They’ve even helped us set up our diverse African drumming group, with people from all cultures. They now have sound equipment, microphones, instruments and uniform, and can showcase African culture while expanding the group.

“This encompasses what we’re all about – reducing isolation, and improving wellbeing and diversity.”

Talking about the importance of the Poverty Hurts appeal in supporting groups like the United African Association during the cost of living crisis, Anne says it is “so important as people come into their offices everyday crying about making ends meet”.

“People are going without the basics,” she added. “Necessities are now seen as luxuries and we empathise with everyone as we have seen the reality firsthand.”

Anne shared that those with newborn babies are among the most vulnerable and one woman recently visited them after she was abandoned by her partner.

She struggled to buy food, nappies, clothing and other essentials but as the association has a good relationship with Growbaby, part of Re:store Northampton who supports those in need, she was able to stock up.

The project coordinator says this made an “enormous difference” as because her immigration application was pending, she was unable to claim benefits and “did not know where her next meal was going to come from”.

When NCF reaches their £40,000 target, grants will instantly start being handed out to community groups like the United African Association.

Talking about the difference money from the appeal would make to the work they do, Anne said: “It’d enable us to continue supporting the people who need it most – people who don’t have a penny to their name.

“Just last week a woman with three children came to us after losing her job and we gave her £40 worth of food, which will feed the four of them for three weeks. We make money stretch and can do this with the support of NCF.”

To find out more about the #PovertyHurts appeal, click here – and to donate using the Just Giving page, click here.