Our Services

No Judgement, Just Help

 

Please don’t feel any embarrassment about needing to use our services. Everyone needs help in some form at some point in their life. On arrival at The Olive Branch you should receive a warm welcome from one of our team and be shown to a seat. We will offer you a cup of tea/coffee and a piece of cake and take time to talk with you about your situation and how we can best help you.

While you do need a referral to receive a food parcel, please note that you can just drop in for our other services.

Food Bank

We provide a referral based food bank. This means that if you need an emergency food parcel, you can apply for one by asking one of our referral partners to refer you to us. You can find a list of these organisations here. The organisation that refers you should be one that is working with you to help you through your present difficulties, so that they can explain to us why you are in need of a food parcel. Once you have been referred, you can bring either a printed or electronic version of the referral form with you to collect your food parcel from our centre. You can apply for up to one food parcel per week, but do require a new referral for each food parcel. We will provide up to 5 parcels in one period of need and after that will review the situation. If you have any dietary requirements, allergies or specific needs, please let us know. Depending on availability, we can often also provide extra items, such as toiletries, toilet roll, washing powder and nappies. Please let us know what you need and we will see what we can do to help you.

Most of our referrals come from Citizens Advice, The Marsh Community Centre, Global Link, Lancaster District Homeless Action, Inspire, the Probation Service and Social Services. We will also take referrals from other organisations or professionals, such as schools or health visitors, that know your situation and are helping you. If they don't already have our referral form ask them to email info@the-olivebranch.org.uk

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Hospitality & Prayer

While you are at The Olive Branch, one of our team will be happy to listen if you want to talk about your situation. We do not judge and we are not easily shocked. We will work with you to find additional support or a way forward through a difficult situation, if this is what you are looking for. We are  aware, though, that sometimes what's most needed in the moment is simply to be able to talk with someone over a cup of tea, and feel heard. 

As a Christian charity, we believe in praying about the situation we find ourselves in, in the bad times and the good ones. If you would like someone to pray with you or for you, a member of our team will be happy to do that. We don’t seek to push this on anyone though and if at any point you don’t feel comfortable, please tell us.

Signposting

If your situation requires more specialist help than we can give, we will gladly signpost you to other organisations that can help you. We have connections with charities that can help with a wide range of issues, including debt, benefits issues, bereavement, homelessness, addiction and more.

We also have a ‘Really Useful Booklet’, which provides details of a variety of local, regional and national organisations which can provide support. You can find the booklet here.

 ACTS 435

Acts 435 is an online giving charity, directly connecting those who want to give with those who are in genuine need of their help, through a network of local churches and charities. Via Acts 435 we can apply for funding for individuals, up to £200. We have previously used this funding to fund Debt Relief Orders, purchase furniture or white goods, or buy decorating supplies for our guests.

Back to School Packs

Towards the end of the summer term, we run a project to provide uniform and PE kit to primary school-aged children in families facing hardships, ready for the September start of the next academic year.  

Banks Lyon Memorial Trust Step-Up Fund 

The Banks Lyon Memorial Trust 'Step-Up Fund' aims to support young people aged 16-25 yrs to overcome barriers to accessing education, training and gaining qualifications for employment. As a partner in this scheme, we can apply for funding for young people referred to us, to meet a specific need. We have previously used this funding to purchase a bike for one young person to get to college, and laptops to enable students to access and complete coursework.  

Support for Asylum Seekers

We provide support to asylum seekers in our city in the form of food support during the asylum process, as well as providing an important social space once a week. We work closely with Global Link and RAIS Lancaster (Refugee, Advocacy, Information, and Support) to help guests access relevant support services.