Craigmillar Hub expands its offering to help even more local people in Edinburgh this year
Places for People – the UK’s leading Social Enterprise – has extended its funding at the Craigmillar Community Hub in Edinburgh, helping more local people in need.
The Hub is a popular venue, created by Places for People to help local people gain access to employment and healthy, affordable food. Now for 2023, the company has funded a range of new activities to help even more people; new initiatives include a digital drop-in class each Wednesday as part of Reconnect North Edinburgh. The new session will bolster the online skills of local people and is further helped by a new Coorie in for Winter programme offering additional digital sessions each Monday.
In a bid to help local people combat the cost-of-living crisis, the centre will also offer a weekly Warm Hub until the end of March, with sessions open to all every Thursday from 10-1pm. Locals are welcome to come along to enjoy tea and snacks, a friendly chat, money advice, employability advice, advocacy and much more. Computers will also be available to use alongside a television, books and board games to enjoy.
Local community groups will also be supported further in 2023; following the success of its Syrian Men’s Group in 2022, the Craigmillar Hub will also now offer sessions for members of the local Sudanese community, including isolated women, children and toddlers and those struggling to grasp digital skills – with a new device workshop for adults and STEM classes for teenagers.
The Hub will also maintain its commitment to young people, running its Starpic youth club three nights each week from January. Places for People funding through its supply chain partner Travis Perkins also enables the continuation of the Multicultural Youth Group into to 2023 too; established by two customers, the group offers support to children aged 5 to 12 to help them transition into school.
Suzanne Douglas is social impact officer at Places for People and works at the Hub; she explained: “We know that people are acutely struggling this winter, and that is why we wanted to expand our offering.
“We have taken action by consulting with local people, and by listening to their needs and making evidence-based decisions we’ve added new activities and initiatives that really will help improve their lives.
“I’m proud of that and look forward to meeting lots more local people here in the coming weeks and months.”
The Craigmillar Hub was established in 2021 and has been a great success. Past initiatives include a partnership between Places for People’s Places Impact Community Investment Fund and charity Community Renewal to establish The Hays Community Pantry at the hub, giving all local residents access to healthy affordable food, reducing food waste and providing volunteering opportunities. By January this year, the Pantry was helping more than 440 households – a customer base it has grown in just 18 months. The Hub has also stopped 2,000kg of food each month from being sent to landfill, while the team has also made strides in supporting families in other ways, including fundraising for the Cash for Kids campaign in December.
Marcus Hulme, Director of Places Impact, Places for People added: “This is a fantastic venue and one we are proud to continue to support. We are proud to unveil a new offering for 2023 – something we hope makes a small difference at this challenging time.”
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