Yorkshire Foundation praises ‘remarkable’ Paignton charity with a £2,500 donation

A Paignton charity which supports people experiencing homelessness, financial hardship and isolation has received a £2,500 donation to help provide essential items to those most in need.

The Thrive Project was awarded the funding from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation after being nominated by colleagues at the Society’s Paignton branch.

The donation will help the charity supply meals, heaters, warm clothing, sleeping bags, tents, food parcels, flasks, hot water bottles and crisis supermarket vouchers.

Based in Winner Street, The Thrive Project has served as a community hub for nearly seven years, supporting people facing challenges including homelessness, addiction, loneliness and bereavement. As well as food and hot drinks, the charity offers referrals, a recovery group, one-to-one mental health support, a jumble room and regular community events.

Yvette Goldsmith, Branch Manager at Yorkshire Building Society Paignton, said she was “proud” to support the charity.

“We are proud to be able to support The Thrive Project in our community in Paignton with a donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. I recently visited their premises in Winner Street and saw first-hand the remarkable work that they do.

“The Thrive Project provides an important service. The work that they are doing to support those in need strengthens the entire community. Every blanket, every meal, and every conversation is a step towards dignity.”

Rachel Shepard from The Thrive Project said the funding would help the charity continue to support some of the most vulnerable people in Paignton, particularly through colder months.

“We are really thankful for the donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation that will help us continue to offer our warming station, which provides takeaway cup-a-soup, pot noodles, porridge and sandwiches to the most vulnerable.

“We can also distribute tents, sleeping bags and other lifesaving items such as warm, dry clothes, hats, gloves, footwear and emergency blankets, which are sadly needed all year round but desperately more during the colder months to those tragically finding themselves street homeless.”

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is funded through the Society’s Small Change Big Difference® scheme, where members donate pennies from interest earned on their accounts once a year to support small charities across the UK. Since 1999 the Foundation has donated more than £10 million to good causes.

More information about the scheme can be found at www.ybs.co.uk/charitablefoundation .

To support The Thrive Project, visit www.thriveproject.org.uk .