Dudley Council’s cabinet member for children and young people dropped by Revive Project in Dudley to meet volunteers putting together food parcels for families in need.

Councillor Ruth Buttery joined in one of the packing sessions in Halesowen, putting together food parcels and craft and educational activities for children. The Revive Project aims not only to combat food poverty, but also to provide a range of experiences and activities to entertain and stimulate children and help them keep up with their peers.

Revive is a Love Dudley initiative which enables churches and organisations to work together to combat holiday hunger in the school holidays by providing food and activity parcels. This February half term the team has two packing and distribution hubs and will be supporting 500 children from 27 different schools. They have 100 volunteers working together from different churches across Dudley.

While the authority has already pledged to support all eligible children on free school meals over the February half-term through its winter grant fund, it is also working with a range of voluntary groups to provide further support for those in need. The council has now managed to secure an additional £20,174 to support organisations like Revive to continue their work until the end of March. Pastor Lisa Parkes who established Revive in summer 2020, said:

"We knew the task of combatting areas of poverty and holiday hunger in Dudley were too big for one organisation or one church. So we imagined what it would look like if we all worked together as churches and charities in the local area.

"What has been achieved is incredible, people have been so generous."

The Revive team receives referrals from local schools and families can sign up to receive their pack which is delivered at the start of the school holidays. The pack includes lunch and breakfast for the holidays, arts and crafts activities & access to a LIVE online holiday club with interaction and games and prizes. Councillor Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children and young people said:

"I’ve been familiar with the work of Revive and the wider Love Dudley for years, but it was really humbling and quite a privilege to join the team for one of their parcel prepping shifts. The work that Lisa and the wider team has done is remarkable.

"Revive, like so many other faith and voluntary groups have supported our communities for years. During the pandemic we’ve seen this kindness reach further still with so many people signing up to volunteer.

"The provision of a range of services, from assembling and delivering food parcels, to collecting prescriptions for those who can’t leave the house to online meet and greet and other activities.

"We’d love anyone offering a helping hand over half term to tag us in on any of their social media activity using #halftermheroes to share their stories."

People can tag the council using #HalfTermHeroes on and can find out more about Revive at reviveproject.org.uk.