Curo News

Bath Area Play Project gets back on the road thanks to donation

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 10:22:40 Z

Pictured from left, Bath Area Play Project family and community support workers Emily North, Chloe Dalton and Jess Exton, Director of Bath Area Play Project Caroline Haworth, Curo Supply Chain and Fleet Contract Business Partner Samantha Thomas, and Lee Palmer Store Manager at Travis Perkins store.

Bath Area Play Project (BAPP) now has a new van to thanks to Bath-based housing association Curo, and Travis Perkins Managed Services.

The Odd Down-based charity runs free play sessions for children around B&NES, and relies on its van to transport the equipment to and from the different venues. Sadly, their van was stolen, and the insurance payment didn’t cover the cost of a replacement used vehicle.

But a joint Curo and Travis Perkins funding pot, which is available for local community projects and ideas, was able to donate £5,000 to cover the shortfall and now the charity once again has a van, complete with brightly coloured branding.

Caroline Haworth, Director of BAPP, said: “We are very grateful for this donation. It’s meant we can get a van that we can rely on, and that we can get it branded which we hope might be a deterrent to thieves.

“Having a van is vital to our work as we use it to transport our equipment to our sessions so that we can provide different resources than the children might get in school or home – such as our very popular spin painting bike. The opportunities we can provide help children to develop some skills that they don’t necessarily get from formal education.”

Samantha Thomas, Supply Chain and Fleet Contract Business Partner at Curo, said: “We know that many of our customers and their children benefit from Bath Area Play Project’s important work, so we’re really pleased that we can support them with this donation.”

Feeding the community

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:27:32 Z

Having the opportunity to go out for a three-course meal is a bit of a luxury. But a community project in Twerton is giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy a restaurant-standard meal every Thursday night – completely free of charge.

The Thursday Night Dinner started in December last year, and is run by the Bath Community Kitchen, and has been supported by a £500 Curo Communities Grant. Rob Lewis, one of the co-founders and Directors of the Bath Community Kitchen, says, “We wanted to create an opportunity for people to be able to go out together and eat together, and enjoy a delicious and nutritious meal – but also something that isn’t exclusive and isn’t expensive.
“We use surplus food that otherwise would have been thrown away by shops and supermarkets, so not only are we helping to tackle food poverty, but also food waste.”

The Thursday night dinner takes place each week at the Lighthouse Centre at 6.30pm. There’s no need to book, and everyone is welcome.

“We’re finding that there are certain barriers that are stopping people from coming along,” says Rob. “They don’t trust us and think there must be a religious element or something like that, or they think there is some stigma to coming to a free event. But there’s really no need to be suspicious, or to feel that way. This really is just a way of helping to bring a community together, and to prevent food waste.

“We usually have around 20 or 30 guests, and it’s a real mix of people, from families, to older members of the community, which I think is really important.
“In a world where people have become very polarised it’s good to sit and talk to people that you might not otherwise come into contact with, whether that’s because they come from a different background to you, or have different opinions on politics or religion, or for any other reason. These meals are a really good forum for that to take place.”

You can find out more about the Bath Community Kitchen at bathcommunitykitchen.org.uk

St Mary's School get £1,200 from community funding pot

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 10:49:22 Z

Pupils from St Mary's Primary School in Writhlington will receive new picnic benches thanks to a donation from a joint Curo and Travis Perkins Managed Services community funding pot.

In total, £1,200 was given to the school from the fund, which is available for local community projects and ideas.

As part of their English curriculum, the school's current Year 5 pupils put their ‘persuasive letter writing’ skills to the test and wrote to Curo asking for help purchasing the new equipment.

Curo Resident Engagement Co-ordinator, Michelle Sage said:

'It was an absolute pleasure to be able to help the school. These new benches for their outside spaces will let them learn outside and enjoy the summer even more.'

Year 4 teacher, Mrs. Dobson said:

'We are extremely grateful for this donation and look forward to the arrival of some new outdoor seating, just in time for the children to enjoy the warm weather.'