What We’re Doing

We’re continuing our support for the work of the Friends of Di’s Kitchen a local charity, operating out of the home kitchen of one of its selfless volunteers, that is helping to feed people in need across the city of Wolverhampton.

The charity is named in honour of Di Henry who, before her passing, ran Tab’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen based at The Tabernacle Baptist Church in Whitmore Reans. Di passed away in 2018, but some of the volunteers who worked with her were determined to continue her good work.

The Friends of Di’s Kitchen now serves nutritious three course meals and distributes food bags to families each week as well as providing emotional support to those in need. Since 2020 over 88,000 meals have been prepared and delivered – with 33,470 people helped in 2023 alone.

In the run up to Christmas we made a donation to the charity which helped them distribute over 800 Christmas meals to their guests and following the success of our Christmas collections we have now been able to donate a further pallet of food which has been used to help feed families over the half term period.

The Friends of Di’s Kitchen are a great example of the power of volunteering and the difference it can make to the people of Wolverhampton

Rotary has always recognised the powerful difference which can be made when local people work together -putting service before self – for the benefit of their community.

Over the years members of the City’s Rotary Clubs have translated this into action and have been involved in the foundation and operation of many local charities including the Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre.

For over 30 years the Centre has been supplying Oxygen Therapy and other Physical and Mindful Therapies for the Wellbeing and Support of those suffering with the physical and psychological effects of both long-term debilitating conditions such as MS and short term traumas. Many of the Centre’s services can only be provided as a result of the assistance of a committed group of trained volunteers.

We greatly appreciate the help which the volunteers from the MS Centre give each year to our Christmas Santa Sleigh and with thanks for their help and in recognition of the Centre’s important work we have, thanks to the generosity of your donations, been able to make a further donation to help its work.

Without the help of the Perton Detachment of the Army Cadet Force Christmas wouldn’t be quite as happy for thousands of children in Wolverhampton.

Each year the Detachment Cadets, their Officers and Adult Instructors devote hundreds of hours to helping our Rotary Santa Sleigh visit children in neighbourhoods around the City – bringing a little bit of extra Christmas magic with it.

A major part of the training for any cadet is citizenship training and through participating in community projects like our annual Santa Sleigh cadets build an understanding of how a community functions and the difference that they can make.

Membership of the Army Cadet Force gives cadets a great opportunity to learn leadership skills, discipline and self-confidence to help equip them for life. You can find out more about joining or volunteering with the Army Cadet Force here – https://armycadets.com/

We’re massively grateful for all of their help and thanks to your support we’ve been able to make a donation to the Detachment to help support their activities through the year.

Your support for our Christmas and Grand Slam of Darts collections has enabled us to make a further donations to support the work of The Well Food Bank as part of our Club’s ongoing efforts to support local charities and good causes.

The Well is a local Christian based charity that provides food and other essential items to families and single people struggling to buy food and other essentials. Since the project started in 2006, The Well’s volunteers have delivered food and toiletry parcels to over 100,000 people and thanks to your support are delivering food parcels to over 120 homes each week.

Wolverhampton’s four local Rotary Clubs and the James Beattie Charitable Trust have teamed up to offer small grants to local groups.

We’ve got a fund of £10,000 available to help individuals, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise groups working in our community to overcome problems arising from deprivation, poverty, disability and lack of opportunity.

We know how small grants can have a big impact, helping individuals and groups through challenging times so we’re offering groups and individuals who are established in their communities the opportunity to apply for grants of between £250 and £500.

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate how a grant would make a difference to the well-being of local people and open up opportunities for them to develop their abilities and skills.

We’ll need to know the number of people who will benefit from the grant and the extent and duration of the impact on them and the community. People benefiting from the grant must have a connection to the Wolverhampton area in terms of living or working in the City, or receiving services from an organisation based there.

Submitting your application:

First download your Application Form here.

Complete and email your application (as a Word attachment) to rotarysmallgrants@gmail.com by no later than 25th January 2024. Please quote CGF23/24 in the subject line followed by the name of your organisation.

What happens next?

You’ll receive an email acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application will then be evaluated by an assessment team, who may need to contact you to ask for further information by email or telephone.

By 15th April you’ll be receive an email from us telling you whether or not your application has been successful – payments to successful applicants will be made very shortly afterwards