BACKGROUND:
- 2010: UKeff had its first Christmas dinner for the homeless in 2010 in partnership with the Oldham Unitarian Chapel under the ministership of Reverend Bob Pounder. This highlighted the plight of the homeless and the fact they are homeless all year round not just at Christmas. Subsequently we felt the need to devise a long term project to address the needs of the homeless and other needy people within our community.
- 2015: The rise in poverty from changes in the Welfare system, as well as cuts in Legal Aid saw an increased burden on other services. UKeff saw a sharp increase in referrals from agencies unable to meet these needs, which eventually led us to set up the Oldham Food Aid Hub in partnership with the Oldham Unitarian Chapel, in April 2015.
PRE-COVID19 PANDEMIC:
The Oldham Food Aid Hub ran every Monday from 10:30 am till 1:30 pm from the Oldham Unitarian Chapel, Connaught Street, Oldham OL8 1EU. Many local people would pop in to see how they could help, or to donate food items.
We always appreciated every helping hand.
SINCE 2019:
The Covid19 Pandemic meant we had to transfer the Oldham Food Aid Hub to our offices & Charity shop located at 72 Yorkshire Street Oldham OL1 1SR. We now operate the Food Hub Monday to Thursday every week, please do call us before making the journey on 0161 660 6818, albeit in a streamlined way. Unfortunately, our limited space mean we are currently unable to offer a hot meal – we are hoping to raise enough funds to be able to resume this service in the near future.