BEST SOCIAL ENTERPRISE / CHARITY FINALIST - Foodstock

Your Name: Paul Doherty

Your Organisation/Company: Foodstock

Your Website: www.foodstockcharity.com 

Your favourite thing about West Belfast: Its people. Resilient, compassionate, driven, funny and always looking out for one another. A place like no other.

What do you think are the key ingredients needed to make a person or organisation the Best of the West?  West Belfast is an incredible place. A Foodstock, we have seen the power of its people when it comes to stepping up for others and seeing our strength in community solidarity and looking out for one another. This ethos is what sets us apart from everywhere else and we see it from day to day in communities, with local business, organisations and in the people here. Anyone who instils those values in whatever they do is a winner.

Foodstock is a charity that started at my garage at home as a foodbank in an attempt to tackle poverty in West Belfast. Soon 30+ people were showing up every day and asking ‘what can I do to help?’. An incredible act of community solidarity which has increased to empowering people through employment initiatives, children via educational opportunities, delivering 3,000 free healthy breakfasts to schools each week to remove hunger as a barrier to children’s education, 38k meals out into communities per year, preloved school uniform hub, Irish language classes, newcomer family community connect drop-ins, advice clinics, autism café and much more. Powered by volunteers who give up their time for others. People looking out for people.