A sense of belonging: small grant helps charity support people
A Birkenhead based charity has shared hundreds of food hampers during the festive period thanks to funding from the Household Support Fund (HSF). And they have big plans for Chinese New Year.
Wirral Chinese Association is offering food packages and essential items as part of Wirral Council’s Small Grants Programme, which awarded 66 local groups a share of around £867,000 the support residents.
Wirral Chinese Association (WCA), run by a group of volunteers, is using their share, £18,449, to deliver targeted food and welfare support to their network of local families in need.
The charity’s treasurer and volunteer, Steve Tam, has described the impact the funding is already having on people.
Steve said:
Our organisation was set up in 1988 by a gentleman called Mr Stanley Chou. We initially operated from someone’s house, but we’ve evolved from there and now we have a premises we use for our events and feeding the community.
Although we’ve been running a long time, we’re a small group. We have one staff member and the rest of us are volunteers.
Although Wirral Chinese Association is a small Birkenhead based charity, they help hundreds of residents every year, from all parts of the borough and out of area.
Speaking of the small grant, Steve said:
It has been a tremendous help for our members, especially the vulnerable. During the cost-of-living crisis, [the price of] everything’s gone up as everybody knows. So anything to help families is good.
A small but mighty organisation, WCA were awarded a grant to support their networks in Winter 2024.
Steve said:
We got the green light for our small grant and we set straight to work.
It was a huge operation. We worked with a wholesaler putting in a large order, then we set about arranging for our volunteers to take delivery of the items, and package them up.
Within a couple of days we had more than 200 parcels ready to hand out to people. We put a message out to our community and people began to collect – for the more vulnerable or housebound we did deliveries.
Alongside direct support, the group also hold events – such as their popular luncheon club – which WCA’s president, Anne Jou Choiha, says, ‘bring people together’.
Anne Jou said:
Food is the attraction, that’s what gets people inside. But once they’re here, people can converge – we have the old and young together and people from different backgrounds.
Attached to the luncheon club, we add value with awareness talks, exercise classes and support from local partners. Our Chinese school at the weekends is family-oriented, a lot of grandparents come to that too.
We also arrange trips out into the community to help people to practice their English speaking and everyday conversations.
The essence of what we do is supporting families, from little ones to elders. And helping people to solve problems.
With 300 households on their books, and more casual visitors, WCA is at the heart of a growing migrant community.
According to David Yeung, Resource Manager and sole staff member at WCA, the work they do helps to break down barriers for people.
Speaking of the small grant fund’s impact, David said:
The small grant fund is helping us to reduce isolation and welcome people into a community.
We recently supported a new immigrant from Hong Kong, who was living locally with two daughters and a grandchild. He received a food parcel from us and we provided a Chinese style recipe so they can cook something homemade at Christmas.
We also worked with an older woman who lives alone. Due to mobility issues it was harder for her to get out and about like she used to. She visits us to socialise at our luncheon club so she was able to collect a food package while she was here, to use at home to cook some homemade, nutritious Chinese food. She told us it made her life easier.
The small grant is not only supporting people when times are tough, it’s bringing people together and tightening community support.
After a roaring Christmas party, the charity’s next big event will be around Chinese New Year at the end of January. They will hold another party and everyone is invited.
Steve Tam said:
The most important thing for us is to create a sense of belonging. Somewhere people can come and feel cared for. People voice their concerns, tell us what they need. Through these parcels we’re not just feeding people, we’re breaking down barriers.
We have people from many nationalities come through our doors, everybody will receive a warm welcome and we will support them in any way we can.
Wirral Chinese Association is based at St Laurence’s School, Birkenhead, CH41 3JD.
They’re open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with events and opening times listed on their website here.
You can also contact them via email at wirralchinese@gmail.com or by calling 0151 649 8177.
Anyone is welcome to become a member. Website: Chinese Wirral.
