Fantastic response to Growing Links initiative

The response by the Cornish Pirates and their supporters, plus certain companies and sponsors, led to the club’s ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’ initiative proving highly successful.

Every day from the 1^st – 25^th December a range of tinned and non-perishable food items were donated by players, staff and sponsors/local businesses, to help provide, through the ‘Growing Links’ charity, thousands of meals to families and individuals experiencing financial hardship in the area.

The initiative followed the Growing Links and Cornish Pirates partnership that was announced earlier this season.

Lauren Smith, Growing Links’ Office Manager, has commented:

“At Growing Links, we rely solely on the donations and generosity of our volunteers and supporters, so our partnership with the Cornish Pirates has provided a wonderful opportunity to engage with a new part of our community.

“The Reverse Advent Calendar the Pirates created through December helped massively to revitalise our Community Food Store and supplied us with so many items to provide thousands of meals to our families experiencing financial hardship. Such support and that from other local businesses who took part in the initiative was truly incredible.

“We really appreciated every single person who responded and now look forward to growing our partnership with the Cornish Pirates and their supporters as we move forward into 2023.”

Rebecca Thomas, CEO of Cornish Pirates added:

“Following the partnership with Growing Links and the ever-increasing economic crisis being faced by so many local families I wanted to be able to extend our support of the amazing work carried out by them further than our match day collections.

“The Reverse Advent Calendar was a huge success thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, local businesses, staff, players and supporters.  Thank you to each and every one that contributed and helped to make a difference.  We look forward to working on further initiatives during 2023 with Growing Links to help support the local community.”

(The following is a list of companies and people who contributed to the Growing Links calendar: Players, Mounts Bay Linen, Supporters, Blackbeard Coffee, BIFFA, Active Plus, Demelza International Yachting, Office Staff, David Meggs of the Whisky Boys, Stephen Schwarz, Harrington Homes, Anita George and the Logan Rock Inn, Teagle, DA Giles, Pirates Amateurs, Truro City Football Club, Coaching Staff, St. Austell Brewery, and The Dash Group)

More About Growing Links & The Cornish Pirates

The Cornish Pirates were earlier this season pleased to confirm that Growing Links, a well-established charity that was founded in 2013 and who do incredible work in West Cornwall, have become a charity partner of the club.

Now, the Cornish Pirates and their supporters have a proud track record of helping the community, and on match days from the time the gates open until the kick-off supporters can donate a range of tinned and non-perishable goods to a designated area by the clubhouse corner of the ground.

Growing Links runs the Community Garden at Gulval and the Street Food Project, a food bank delivering around 75 plus food parcels to families and people in and around Penzance every week, as well as providing a hot healthy cooked meal every evening of the year to anyone who does not have the facilities to cook for themselves.

Of no surprise, customer numbers have increased dramatically over the last couple of years and in the present climate are certain to rise still further. Growing Links have at times struggled to keep up with the demand for food, so it is understandably of real importance to engage with the local community and highlight the need for help, so together action can be taken against escalating poverty and the unmet needs of individuals and households in Penzance and the wider area of West Cornwall.

For further information visit:   https://www.growinglinks.org.uk/

Please also note that anyone wishing to kindly volunteer for the project should simply contact:   [email protected]