Many people locked in poverty or those who find themselves in times of crisis often experience restricted options. This leaves them caught between being able to heat their home, pay their rent, buy food or keep clean. Hygiene poverty can be shaming, humiliating and excluding and can result in social isolation. It can lead to a lack of confidence and can negatively affect good health and mental well-being which can impact early childhood development, learning, employability and social interaction. This organisation knows the social deprivation in Lowestoft means that hygiene poverty is an issue many in their community are faced with.
Recent funding from the Foundation has allowed The Waveney Hygiene Bank to continue operating for a year by funding their storage facility. Without this funding their ability to operate would be severely diminished. The storage unit allows them to collect and sort donations ready to be distributed, and to pack them for their community partners. It will also enable them to take large donations from their brand partners and is essential to the running of the organisation.
We couldn’t be more grateful for the funding we received which allowed us to rent a storage facility for a year. The unit has meant that we are able to take on more donations, store more products and ultimately deliver more to those in need in our community. Without the unit, and the funding for it, we simply wouldn’t be able to operate on this scale or meet the huge demand for hygiene products that exists in our area. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at the foundation and all its supporters and donors for making this a reality.