Liverpool charity launches Christmas campaign to offer gift of hope to people who are struggling

St Andrew’s Community Network offers support through foodbanks and food pantries throughout the north of the city, along with free specialist debt and money advice.

The Liverpool charity is giving the gift of hope this Christmas with a new campaign to reassure people of help if they need it.

Charlotte Moorcroft, fundraising and communications officer, says: “There is always help, and there is always hope even when it doesn’t seem like it.

“It can be hard to see a way out when you’re at rock bottom. But we are here to help – at crisis point and beyond.”

But she adds: “I think our volunteer Paul Thompson, who features in our Christmas campaign video, says it better than ever I can – that there is always a way out. And nothing is forever.”

In the video for the Clubmoor-based charity, Paul talks about how social anxiety stopped him from leaving the bubble that was his house, and how he was trapped in a vicious cycle that took him to rock bottom.

He got in touch with St Andrew’s after realising that something had to change, and began volunteering, delivering food to its foodbanks and community food pantries.

Paul helped ensure people in crisis were supported and able to access the food they needed – and now his confidence has grown so much that he’s a vital part of the Network’s ‘Money Angel’ programme.

The scheme supports people using foodbanks and pantries to access additional financial advice. The Money Angels are trained volunteers who people in hardship can chat to about their money worries, and who can refer them on for free specialist debt or benefits advice.

The Liverpool charity is giving the gift of hope this Christmas. Credit: St Andrew’s Community Network

It aims to reduce the stigma around seeking advice, and makes sure additional support is easily accessible.

Paul, who volunteers every week at Walton Cornerstone as a Money Angel, feels his experience means he’s better able to help others: “I’ve been there, that dark time, so I know how to help bring someone through it.

“Being a Money Angel is pretty special. You’re meeting people who’ve got nowhere else to turn to – they’re at rock bottom. Nobody says when they’re 16, ‘I want to go to a foodbank’. So I make it a safe space for them.”

The charity says his journey demonstrates the reality of hope, and Paul adds: “I can tell people that there is a way – this is not your forever. Things can change.

“I see them a few weeks later and they come back with a smile on their face – that is change! It’s making a difference.”

Charlotte says: “There is still such a stigma connected to foodbanks and food pantries which we want to try and remove. There is no shame, and more and more people are having to go to them, and getting to that point where they need support.

“It’s not just people out of work, but people who are working too.

“Everyone is finding it hard at the moment and many people are struggling, and it never becomes more apparent than at this time of year. But we can help.

“We have foodbanks at 11 north Liverpool centres and eight community food pantries, and we have people who can give advice on debt and income maximisation, so people can build back resilience and recover from the point of crisis.

“There is help. And there is definitely hope.”

You can watch the full Christmas campaign by visiting St Andrew’s Community Network’s website here.

And you can support the work of this Liverpool charity who are bringing help and hope to thousands of people across the city every year by donating here.