TWO Hereford-based charities are in the running for our Reader’s Choice grant to support their work.

The Living Room and Phoenix Bereavement Service are two charities who have applied for help.

Our parent company’s charitable arm, the Gannett Foundation, is providing the money to support local charities across the country, and we are delighted that we have a £20,000 share to give away in our region.

The Living Room is a café, a community larder and a safe community space in the centre of Hereford.

It aims to make things better for people on low incomes, those experiencing isolation or lacking in support or community connections. It welcomes everyone creating a safe place.

Its work includes organising peer support groups, training, sign-posting and arranging food parcels.

Hereford Times:

The Living Room’s chief executive, Mel Groves, said: “A lot of people don’t have access to the support they need. We can provide people with this support.

“We’re expanding and changing all the time. We want people to have a space they can return to.”

The Living Room is applying for the grant to help convert the rear of its premises, so showers and washing facilities can be made available for people who are homeless.

It is also seeking funding to help turn its outside area into a small garden.

Phoenix Bereavement Support is a charity based at the Fred Bulmer Centre in Hereford.

It supports children, young people and their families when someone close to them dies.

Phoenix Bereavement offers individual, group and family support to help people come to term with loss and face the future with hope.

Phoenix works with families after sudden deaths, including suicide, accidents and murder as well as when the death was expected. It offers support for parents and carers with children up to the age of 21.

The service also offers advice, guidance, and training for professionals to increase understanding of bereavement, grief and related issues.

Phoenix is applying for help to buy new equipment and activities for their newly formed wellness groups for 11 to 15-year-olds.

Christina Barrington, bereavement support practitioner, said: “We want to give them a support space to talk away from their families and give them the opportunity to be with children their own age, who’ve also experienced bereavement.”

“We work with the children on their feelings and help them to deal with grief and develop coping strategies.”

The Hereford Times has already helped several good causes with Gannett Foundation money over several years.

How you can help

Look out for special tokens published in the Hereford Times this month. Collect them to give your preferred charity a chance of claiming a share of our £20,000.

You can vote by post. Send your token to:

Hereford Times Readers Choice Cash for Charities Nominations
1st Floor
Chartist House
Upper Dock Street
Newport
NP20 1DW

You can also drop your vote in special ballot boxes at:

  • Hopes of Longtown
  • Oakchurch
  • Ludlow Farm Shop
  • Legges in Bromyard
  • The Living Room Hereford
  • The Burger Shop (Rule of Tum) Hereford
  • Beefy Boys
  • Freeman of Newent
  • The Three Tuns 
  • Country Tastes