Acts Trust Annual General Meeting – Highlights!
A couple of weeks ago we had our Annual General Meeting for Acts: it was a great night celebrating some of the highlights from the last year. Keep reading to find out more!
Please note: figures below relate to the period May 2022 – April 2023
Night Light Cafes
In the past year, we have provided 428 evenings of in-person support at 11 venues with 14 new cafes launched countywide!
3,086 visits to a Lincoln Night Light Cafe have taken place in the past year, with 321 people visiting for the first time!
‘If I hadn’t come tonight I would have sat at home feeling depressed. Here I have found a sense of friendship and support.’ – Night Light Cafe Attender
‘The support offered by the Night Light Cafes is obviously working. We are seeing an impact on the reduction of referrals to clinical services, freeing our staff up to help the people who urgently need them.’ – LPFT Manager
To find out more about Night Light Cafes, including how you can get involved or support, please click here.
Lincoln Foodbank
In the past year, 9,858 people were supported by Foodbank this year through 4,701 parcels. That’s more than 42,000 meals!
6,364 recipients were adults, 3,494 children.
This chart shows the breakdown in reasons for referrals to Foodbank in the past year.
This graph shows the increase in demand for Lincoln Foodbank over the past ten years.
‘All the people I have talked to and met have just wanted to help me and they also made me a cup of tea while I waited for my parcel too. It has made me realise how many people want to help and are really kind.’
‘I love getting to know all the volunteers! It’s so lovely that so many people are willing to give their time and skills to help others and it’s loads of fun working with each other each week. I also absolutely love the supermarket collections – I think people in Lincoln are so generous, it’s amazing to see how many donations we get.’
To find out more about Lincoln Foodbank, including how you can get involved or support, please click here.
Restore Programme
We have delivered 28 Restore Programme Courses this year, including:
- Life:Ready (Life Skills)
- Job Club Money Management
- WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) Course
100% of those who completed feedback forms reported an increase in their confidence by ‘a bit’ or ‘a lot’. 100% said the change was due to engaging with the Restore courses.*
78% of guests have accessed other Acts projects during this year *
*Based on 23 responses between May 22-Apr 23
In September 2022, ESOL relaunched as the International Welcome Cafe, serving international visitors to Lincoln. The Cafe sees an average of 18 adults and 4 children each week, from 19 different countries.
‘Coming here has felt like I’ve been heard and listened to. I felt really anxious but [the tutor] has a really calming influence and I think this will be really helpful to make me think about my daily mental health and what I’m in control of.’
‘Yes. When I come to cafe I feel myself relax and comfortable. I like talking with different people from another country. I like talking with native English people and I like eating cakes and drink coffee.’
To find out more about the Restore Programme, including how you can get involved or support, please click here.
Energize
Energize work with children and young people aged 8-18 in schools and communities.
In the past year the team have connected with 1,414 young people, providing 647 hours of community youth work.
During the school term they have delivered 522 school sessions and 82 pupils have received one to one support.
‘The summer would be so boring and depressing without Energize. Thanks for making it fun for us.’
‘I love Thursdays when we have mentoring because you really help motivate me to become a better person.’
To find out more about Energize, including how you can get involved or support, please click here.
Lincoln Community Grocery
The Community Grocery provides affordable shopping for all.
We have an average of 90 shoppers visiting the Grocery every day, and more than 2,200 members overall.
To find out more about the Lincoln Community Grocery, including how you can get involved or support, please click here.
A big thank you to all our teams and incredible volunteers without whom we simply wouldn’t exist!
To find out more about Acts and all we do, please visit our website.
