Charity delivering 1,000 Christmas packs to families and isolated people across Leeds

Space2 successfully applied for funding from the Community Fund Covid-19 Response emergency fund to deliver a range of services to struggling families and isolated communities throughout the pandemic.

Dawn Fuller, is joint chief executive officer of Space2 - which is part of the Orion Consortium in east Leeds.

She said: "The Christmas packs will be targeted at families and isolated men in east Leeds, and women from across the city, of which 100 were nominated through an online campaign.

"They will include food, sweet treats, books, crafts and other creative activities."

Space2 Creative Programmes Manager, Emma Goodway, said: “We just wanted to bring a smile to people’s faces.

"2020 has been so challenging for us all, but if you are living alone or short of money it’s even harder.”

The team are busy putting together 60 hampers for isolated men in Seacroft, Gipton, Chapeltown and Meanwood.

The hampers will include books of word searches, socks, shower products, mince pies, oranges, soup, pasta and postcards of local areas photographed by artist Kevin Hickson.

They will also have stories and writing prompts created by Found Fiction, a local organisation which collects stories from across the world and leaves them to be found in different places.

They will also receive demonstration videos and are invited to four Zoom sessions focusing on each activity, with the aim of giving isolated people a chance to be creative and socialise.

A total of 400 women’s packs are being distributed in partnership with Women’s Lives Leeds, including period poverty products donated by local period poverty charity Freedom for Girls.

And 500 ‘Bags of Joy’ have been created in partnership with Gipton Old Fire Station, The East Leeds Project, funded by Leeds City Council's Inner East ast Community Committee with donations from ASDA, Morrisons and Child Friendly Leeds. They will include sweet treats and art and craft activities for children.

The Community Fund Covid-19 response funding has also enabled Space2 to deliver a range of support services during the pandemic.

It has mobilised and and supported 23 volunteers to provide a range of emergency support for people in the Gipton and Harehills areas of Leeds affected by Covid 19

The volunteers have provided food parcels, shopped for essential items and collected pharmacy prescriptions.

To find out more about Space2 activities go to www.space2.org.uk