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A group of girls named Amie, Millie, Lucy and Lucie carried out a bake sale and raised over £300 for The Gate Charity. The four girls organised the whole event themselves, baked and sold cakes in their own street. They wore masks, gloves and had hand sanitiser for their customers, all COVID-19 friendly. We are so proud of the girls, they did great! What an inspiration these girls are to young people living within Clackmannanshire. Thank You So Very Much!!
During the Easter break, any family could visit The Gate Centre on a Tuesday or Thursday between 12 – 12.30pm to receive a free lunch bag. Every child received a health sandwich, a bottle of water, two pieces of fruit, crisps and a small treat. We hope to offer a similar service during the summer holidays. The purpose of this project is to provide any primary school child with a healthy lunch during school holidays.
The Gate Foodbank would like to give a huge thank you to the nurses and doctors from the Acute Assessment Mental Health team at Forth Valley Hospital, for their fantastic effort of raising £3,080.00. We hope you have all recovered from your 10k running challenge and that the knowledge that you have helped support some of the most vulnerable people and families in Clackmannanshire will ease your aching muscles!
Well done, and thank you to all who took part and to all who donated money to this worthwhile cause. We very much appreciate it!!
We have received many phone calls from the general public requiring assistance for many matters. We are very happy and proud to be able to help people requiring a food parcel. We are delivering food parcels directly to people’s doorstep who have been referred through our usual referral system. However, we are unable to assist with other matters. CTSI are working in partnership with Clack’s Council to support people in need of help or support. Please see the above photograph for useful information and contact numbers. Hope this helps!!
The Gate Centre will be closed over the Easter weekend. However, our Foodbank will remain open on Friday and Monday for urgent referrals only. The project will reopen on Tuesday 14th April at 10am to 3pm. The usual referral system is still in place during the difficult time.
We want to thank the Clacks Community for their support during this national crisis. We have had a huge response to our plea for volunteer support. We have a full working team at the moment and over 20 people on our reserve list should things change. People have also been really kind in donating food. We have a good stock of food at the moment to distribute parcels to vulnerable people within Clackmannanshire. However, we are running really low on the following:
Tinned fruit
Rice pudding
Custard powder
Potato powder
Jam
Meat pastes
Tinned ham/Corned beef
Tinned meatballs/mince
Coffee
Tea
Cereal – variety packs
Mug shots
Noodles
Biscuits
Spread
Cheese
Eggs
Milk
If you are able to help in anyway, we would be very grateful. Donations can be dropped off at The Gate Centre between 10am to 3pm or at our permanent trollies in all local supermarkets. Thank you so much in advance for any support that you are able to provide!
Our Staff and Volunteers are working hard to support people affected by the national crisis. It has been agreed that The Gate Centre will remain open from 10am – 3pm Monday to Friday.
Soup Pot – This project will remain open for the time being every Tuesday 12 – 1pm providing the usual service supporting vulnerable people within the community.
Foodbank – This project will remain open for referrals and we may be required to adapt the referral system throughout the next few weeks to support people affected by the coronavirus. We are working closely with our partners to ensure that we are strategically managing our stocks to support vulnerable people fairly within the community. In order to do so, we are appealing to the general community for donations of carrier bags and food to meet with the potential extra demand. We are also appealing to the Clacks community for additional volunteer support should our volunteers be affected by the virus. We are asking that if you or anyone you know can assist that you pop along to The Gate to discuss your availability and to consider roles that you may be able to get involved in.
Community Café – The café will close until further notice. Further information will follow.
Home Starter Pack project – We will provide starter packs for emergency referrals only.
All other projects will be suspended until further notice. In particular, our Books N Blether reading group, Gig at The Gate and other projects including Gate Catering Services and planned fundraising events too.
Forth Valley Recovery Community has also decided to close their cafés for the foreseeable future. Additional help will be provided by staff at FVRC to support people who usually attend the cafes for support.
As discussed, we are calling upon the Clacks community for support should we need it. Activities may involve delivering food parcels, sorting through donations of food and distributing parcels to our service users or referrers when they come along to our Centre for support. We may introduce new initiatives in the near future to manage any potential increase in the need for vulnerable people within Clackmannanshire, therefore there may be other ways in which you could get involved. Any support that you could provide during this time would be greatly appreciated.
Stay safe, stay well and stay happy. We will get through this!
Our School Uniform Bank operates annually in partnership with the local SNP constituency. During the summer of 2019, we provided 355 children with school clothing and equipment. This project is very much a community effort. Local organisations get involved throughout the donation, sorting and distributing process such as staff from CTSI, Ochilview Housing Association, Yorkshire Building Society, SNP and Asda. All clothing is donated by the general public, local churches and supermarket customers. We really couldn’t operate this project without the community’s support and our wonderful bank of Gate volunteers.
THE globetrotting mascot of an Alloa charity has become the organisation’s most travelled volunteer, having visited nearly 20 countries.
Jackson, an adorable fluffy Labrador toy, has been travelling the world with volunteers of The Gate since last summer and has been as far as Australia, the US, Gambia and much more.
He helps connect people, bringing a little joy when things get stressful at the charity, which distributed 80,455 meals from its foodbank and provided 355 children with school clothing this year.
Marie Brownhill, volunteer manager at The Gate, said: “He creates a sociable, informal and joyful rapport with the volunteers which is really important because it can be a very stressful environment to work in. “It is important that people enjoy their time at The Gate and Jackson, who is off to Austria soon, helps to promote happiness within the team.”
The cuddly mascot, who was donated to the charity by a six-year-old, has also travelled the UK extensively and volunteers have also taken him home for sleepovers, BBQs and birthday parties closer in and around the Wee County.
Val Rose, a trustee at The Gate, added: “He has travelled extensively across the UK and has even been to birthday parties and other occasions. Jackson does not say a lot but he is very well known and popular in the local community and people come in to The Gate and ask for him.”
The mascot has also seen Norway, France, Corfu, Poland, Tunisia and Spain. Recently, the list grew with Portugal’s autonomous Madeira region with charity supporter MSP Keith Brown. Wearing a pair of snazzy sunglasses, the representative posed for a snap which will find its place in Jackson’s photo album to showcase his epic travels. Mr Brown said: “I thought this was a great opportunity to show my ongoing support for The Gate and the work it does for our local area.
“From the vital services it delivers like the Soup Pot and foodbank to the more fun, but just as important events, like the Gig at the Gate and Community Café”.
“Since it was established, The Gate has become an integral part of our local community.
“Its volunteers and staff are truly committed to giving help and support to those who are most vulnerable and find themselves in need. I am happy to offer my support in any way that I can – even by stowing a (toy) dog in my holiday luggage.”