The Storehouse Charity

PROJECT INFORMATION

Winchester Vineyard Church, in Winchester, needed somewhere to store goods while building work was taking place. In particular, the church team needed a place to keep the children’s clothing, equipment, toys and food it provides as part of its Storehouse project. However, as lockdown came into force across the UK, the church was also able to use the containers to support the work of the local foodbank, which was facing increasing demand.

THE SOLUTION

As part of our Community Involvement Programme, which supports non-profit or voluntary organisations, we donate containers for charitable use free of charge, and we were pleased to be able to help the church out with two large containers. Winchester Vineyard Pastoral Administrator Julie Iles said: “We got in touch with Mobile Mini after finding them through an online search. They were very helpful and offered to donate two containers to us for free.

“The extra space was invaluable during the building work that took place to enlarge our premises for our Storehouse project. Through this project, we can support many vulnerable and disadvantaged families in our area with equipment, clothing and food for children aged up to 16. “Although the building work is finished, we are still using the containers as they have enabled our work to grow significantly. We have been able to help considerably more families because of this facility, which has been indispensable during the lockdown.”

Throughout the lockdown, Winchester Basics Bank moved into the church building, which was unable to host any meetings due to the restrictions, creating one principle support hub for Winchester. Julie added: “As well as the food parcels, we are also likely to become the main centre to provide clothing for adults as well as children in the city.

“Having the containers has allowed us to install a freezer to keep things over and above just ‘the basics’, such as birthday cakes, which are beyond some families’ budgets, as well as extra meat and commercial-sized packs of food, which we can break down into family-sized portions. We can also now store new toys that are donated throughout the year, ready for a huge toy fair event for families before Christmas. This makes sure that children in poorer families can still receive new presents.

“The containers mean we’ve also got the space to store larger items like donated cots and other baby equipment which, without this storage facility, we would have to refuse. “Mobile Mini’s kindness has enabled us to help so many more people, and the whole process has been smooth and hassle-free. The team have been excellent – I’d recommend them to anyone!”