Clean streets – recycled rubbish – a full foodbank. It might sound unlikely but with the support of our women and local charitable organisation We Can CIC, that’s what we’re working towards.
We Can take aluminium cans and turn them into cash, some of which is then used to buy food for our foodbank, or even donated directly. It’s a partnership that’s been going for around two years now, and we’re all incredibly grateful for Ryan’s support.
Financial support from We Can
Shortly after Ryan and We Can got in touch we decided to not just receive food, but to start collecting cans in return – and that project has grown and grown. Now a number of Anawim Peer Mentors and Champions regularly collect cans for us, alongside The Clock pub which donates its empties.
Since Birmingham has been without recycling collections for more than a year this means we’re helping to keep some of the excess rubbish off the streets, and out of landfill. There’s also a benefit for local community spaces and parks which are often cleaned up by our women!
One of our Peer Mentors who collects regularly told us that it’s really satisfying to know you can make a difference to the area, cleaning up the parks and streets. Of course, we have th e benefit of knowing the cans we collect are going to a good cause because it helps to keep the foodbank stocked up.
Talking to the BBC about the project.
Anawim’s foodbank is one of our most well used resources, and sits behind our open access drop-in service, which is available to any woman for any reason. We give out in excess of 100 parcels a month, and also provide toiletries and clothing as needed.
We now have bins to store the cans on site at Anawim, and we take between one and two cars full of them to We Can’s base in Solihull every week. In return they regularly provide us with huge donations of food, or money with which we can re-stock. If you live locally and would like to drop cans off please do, the centre is open Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm.
Messy streets turned into food for the foodbank.
We think it’s a great example of the benefits of working together, and we hope it continues for as long as possible (although the return of recycling collections would be welcomed!).