Start Up Stirling In Bloom

Helping people in hardship throughout the Stirling Council area to be nourished, flourish and grow.

Spring is the time for new beginnings and for many of the people that Start Up Stirling supports, the past Winter has been one of the toughest that they have ever experienced. By December 2022, we received 1,932 referrals for Crisis food, and supported 3,682 people, the highest number of referrals that we have ever had.

With Spring returning, we are providing more support, so that people experiencing hardship across the Stirling Council area have a brighter future. We want our services to help Stirling residents to be nourished by the Crisis Food Service, as well as helping local communities to flourish at the Community Hubs throughout the area by providing a space to socialise, make new friends and have a cup of tea. We also want to provide support to help people to grow and give them a fresh start after difficult times in their lives, by providing a Home Starter pack when someone is entering a new tenancy. This would give them the basics that they need to make their new house a home.

"Getting to sit down and having a cuppa and a biscuit and getting to speak to someone outside from my family is great." (Quote from a food bank service user).

How you can support the “Start Up Stirling in Bloom” campaign.

To help the people that Start Up Stirling supports to bloom, you can help in a variety of ways:

  • By donating food from the Spring Shopping list at their Donation Stations across the Stirling Council area for Crisis Food packs. They would also be happy to receive donations at their Warehouse, situated at 16B Whitehouse Road, Stirling, FK7 7SP, Tuesday to Friday, from 9am until 3pm. There will be social media posts about the items that are most needed throughout the campaign.

  • Donate supermarket gift vouchers, that can be used to provide extra help for their crisis food service users, or to purchase items for Home Starter Packs.

  • Make a financial donation to help to support the services that Start Up Stirling provides and to expand the activities that are available at the Community Hubs. If you are a UK taxpayer and are eligible to add Gift Aid to your donation, this will increase your gift to us by a further 25%.

  • Provide a regular monthly donation to help to plan their services, and to provide flexibility to support as many people living in hardship as possible.

  • Have your own fundraising event with your friends, family or work colleagues. There are lots of different ideas on their website to choose from to advertise your activities.

  • Like, share and retweet our social media, to spread the word about the Start Up In Bloom campaign.

If you would like to know more about the Start Up In Bloom campaign and how you can help, please contact the office on 01786 561027, or e-mail at [email protected]