MP's salute for OL1 event

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon

Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon visited a food parcel event run by popular local community hub OL1.

Established in 2015, the OL1 group is made up of volunteers who come together along with local stakeholders to see how they can improve the area they live in with a goal of encouraging community growth.

They have no doubt excelled in being a solid anchor embedded within the community, and offer a wide range of services such as ESOL classes, luncheons, and many other activities.

The success of this project has seen the increase of similar community groups being established across the borough.

Yesterday (Thursday) Mr McMahon visited the ‘Bread and Butter Thing with OL1’ event.

This specific project requires residents to sign up to collect food parcels which are available in three sizes.

A typical family order is £7, an individual would be £3.50 and a large family order would be £14.

A typical order is three shopping bags which consist of one being full of cupboard goods, the second fridge goods and the third fruit and vegetables.

Upon signing up residents receive a text which asks them to confirm if they would like an order for that week.

The order then is delivered to the Barker Street Community Centre for collection.

Once residents collect their orders, they are able to top up from local supermarkets.

Mr McMahon said: “It is inspiring to see this level of initiative taking place in Oldham, as well as people from the community coming together to meet challenges head on.

“With it being such a good initiative I wasn’t the least surprised that residents were queuing around the corner!

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank OL1 and the Bread and Butter Thing for the fantastic contribution they make to the community.”