English As a Union, one of the ways we want to be able to support our members is by providing a POT CYFLEUSTER to provide zero interest loans to those facing difficult times. Read on to hear from two of the members who we’ve already been able to help through the Solidarity Pot, then find out more about the pot yma.
CASE STUDY 1
How did the solidarity pot help you through a difficulty?
The Covid-19 pandemic hit at such a difficult time in the growing calendar – the hungry gap. The time of year where produce is very sparse as we are waiting for all the new season crops, and as a result cash flow is always a bit slow until we have produce to sell. Our community needed us to alter our business model so they could access fresh food in a time of crisis but this costs money, which we did not have at the time. The solidarity pot helped us buy essential equipment for doubling our box scheme and pay for it later when we had some more money.
How was the process of applying for the solidarity pot?
It was a simple application and a good process as helped us think out what was really essential equipment for getting us through the pandemic and we would use in the future.
Can you share a story of something that was made possible through the solidarity pot?
We bought a good printer and a new set of scales with the money. Things we had been “making do” without before. Although it may seem trivial, now we can print out newsletters for customers, especially good for our customers that don’t really use their emails, as well as building a deeper connection with all customers. There is something about printed info compared to digital?! We also have more scales now so we can sell in multiple locations on one day (market and veg boxes). The pandemic was transformative for our business and the solidarity pot helped us take that jump to be the business we have now. Thanks LWA!
CASE STUDY 2
How did the solidarity pot help you through a difficulty?
Teign Greens CIC came about in March last year, when we saw the huge need for locally produced fresh veg within our local community. We wanted to get started as quickly as possible to meet this demand, but we didn’t have any start up funding. While we inherited lots of seeds, compost and tools from our landlord’s farm, the LWA solidarity loan helped us to get started with the specifics we needed to run a veg box scheme, such as veg box packaging and scales. It was the first income in our fledgling bank account that we used to pay for these start up costs, before our first paying members came on board.
How was the process of applying for the solidarity pot?
Super easy! We just needed to fill in one short form and we were told we were successful. Given how busy we had been then setting up a new business in response to the pandemic, jumping through the usual hoops of funding applications wasn’t an option. And as we were so new, without a track record, we were so grateful that the LWA believed in us! This enabled us to get the money we needed to help us get started simply.
Share a story of something that was made possible through the solidarity pot.
With the help of the solidarity pot, within just one year Teign Greens has got to a point where we have a massive 67 subscribing local CSA members eating our harvest each week, thriving weekly volunteer days, and we hosted 3 trainees this season who we’ve taught how to set up a project like this. We’re on track to reach financial sustainability and grow to 100 members next year. We couldn’t have got this off the ground without your help right at the beginning.
