How communities come together to change lives

Title: East Ayrshire's Auchinleck is a village that felt it lost its community spirit when the local mining industry collapsed. Left poorer and isolated, the Auchinleck Community Development Initiative (ACDI) was set up to make life better. With welfare champions, recovery support and a place to make friends, it has provided a lifeline for the community. The rising cost of living has made that lifeline more important than ever.

Paul McKenzie, Community Engagement Manager: Our charity was born out of a need to revitalise the sense of community in the area. That sense of community was always provided by the mining industry. Once that was taken away, there was a void. The cost of living crisis has made the centre an increasingly essential service. Our remit is to improve the lives of the people in the town. Now, that can be through employment, it can be through advice, it can be through support. A small town like Auchinleck, the people themselves are the glue that holds the community together. It’s up to use to make sure that we keep building. We keep making sure that whatever is lost, we as a community make something new.

Scott, local resident: A lot of the people that come here are struggling with mental health difficulties, finding it hard to find employment elsewhere. We always give somebody a chance in here, no matter their background. When I was younger, I was a bad boy and ended up in prison and things like that. So I struggled to find work, I was out of work for about 5 or 6 years. I realised the importance of being outdoors and working outdoors, especially with plants, trees and shrubs. It tends to be very therapeutic. It takes you away from your problems. The main thing I like about this place is just seeing the people that come through the place and the change in them. It gives me a great sense of pride. This is my happy place. This is everybody else’s happy place in here. So it is.

Sharon, local resident: I’m Sharon and I come to these art groups. Very therapeutic. It’s really enjoyable just sitting here painting pictures and we’ll have a good laugh together, when we’re all in the group some days. It does, it brings out your confidence because you’re meeting new people and that helps. Oh, it does make a big difference to my life, because I think I’d be lost without this place. I used to have to come in here a year ago and it’s been fantastic. I absolutely love it, I’d be lost without it now.

Margaret, local resident: Hi, my name’s Margaret. One of the reasons I like coming here on a Wednesday is for tea and a chat. We don’t know what we’re going to talk about or discuss, but I can tell you the times keep on going and we’re all vying to get our wee bit in. A lot of us are on our own, do it does make a different, a really is a fun morning. If you feel low when you come in, I can assure you you’ll feel high when you go home.

Paul McKenzie, Community Engagement Manager: Our organisation has done our very best to recreate that heart of the town, to give it back. Some sense of social cohesion and make sure that everyone has a brighter future to look forward to.

Title: If you’re struggling to cope with the cost of living, you’re not alone. Find help and support at NatWest.com. Simply search NatWest Cost of Living.

Title: 
1 in 3 children live in poverty in Enfield, London. that's the 11th highest child poverty rate in the country. While 28.7% of residents are estimated to be earning below the Living Wage (2021). So local charity Cooking Champions decided to do something about it. With a little help from their community.

Clare Donovan, Cooking Champions:
We are a food-based charity concentrating on food support, education and training. It's the first dedicated community kitchen in the borough and it's something we're really proud of.

Currently the cost of living is hitting individuals and families really hard, we're just there to provide a little bit of help when people need it most.

We've been able to provide free cooking lessons for children and adults and it's a really lovely environment to be in spending quality family time together learning new skills achieving something together taking it home and sharing it with other members of their family.

Recently we've just moved our food bank here as well and on average we help about 200 people a week.

We get a lot of food from the Felix project they take any waste products from supermarkets to stop them going to landfill and it just gets used in the community so it's a win-win situation.

With a lot of the things we do food is the starting point but there's so many  added benefits that come with it. It's tackling loneliness which is a huge issue, it's helping  relieve poverty and it's just creating this stronger sense of community cohesion as well. 

We cook for an amazing homeless charity called 'The Little Things' we have huge support from Paul  Wheeler who provides all the fruit vegetables and since we've helped them we've made about 12, 000 meals for them.

Paul Wheeler, local business owner:
What they do for the community in and around Enfield, they're making people's dinners who can't afford it who are struggling , who've got mental health issues. They're just unreal beacons of shining light.

Cooking Champion volunteer:
The people that we see a lot of them have a lot of uncertainty in their life, we are there through rain sleet and snow and we are a solid and a constant in their life, which actually a lot of people don't have.

It can be very very lonely when you are isolated from absolutely everybody. We're just here to provide a little bit of extra help for people that need it.  

Local resident: It definitely helps for sure at the minute, you know with everybody struggling with cost of  living and stuff um yeah it helps, it's a good place everybody's nice and welcoming and whatever.

So yeah, it's good. I mean it is sad that things like this are having to happen  but if it didn't there would be people starving right now, wouldn't there? I think these sort of places are some of the only places people are getting food, so yeah it's a good thing  long may continue.

Clare Donovan, Cooking Champions:
Seeing the impact we're having on the lives of so many people it's just... who wouldn't want to come work in a place like this? We all work together, we really think that  we've created a community here.

So just getting to know different people from different walks  of life, seeing them on their journey and seeing what our contribution has been, albeit a small one  but we'd like to think that we've impacted people's lives in a really positive way.

Titles:
If you're struggling, you're not alone. Find help and support at natwest.com. Simply search NatWest Cost of Living.