Picture from the Express and Star
A group of wrestlers from Wolverhampton say they will be able to help more people suffering under lockdown thanks to money awarded to them by the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Wolverhampton Wrestling Club have been given £4,490 to continue their outreach work in gurdwara temples in Fallings Park, Whitmore Reans, and Heath Town areas.
The group will use the money to offer local people food supplies, PPE and mental health support.
Good causes have been supported during the pandemic by using a pot of cash seized from criminals. The Community Initiatives Fund can’t be spent on police officers as the money isn’t guaranteed each year.
West Midlands Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Waheed Saleem, said, “When I heard about the good work this group of Wolverhampton wrestlers wanted to do I knew it was something we should be funding with money seized from criminals.
“Lockdown is such a hard time for so many people and it is only thanks to people like this that we will get through it.”
The wrestlers have set up a Well-being Weekend Club in Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara in Fallings Park, offering a gardening club for the elderly and various sporting activities for children. The Club expects that 500 participants from the local community will benefit from these activities each week.
They’ve also already distributed 1,500 units of PPE to local care homes, and have sourced and supplied all faith centres in Wolverhampton with special face coverings adapted to cover beards.
The group will also support their work with a food collection service at the Heath Town gurdwara, where they are currently providing 100 meals a day. Thanks to the grant they can now replicate this success in both Fallings Park and Whitmore Reans.
The Community Initiatives Fund provides supports targeted at areas of deprivation across the West Midlands, which have some of the highest rates of social deprivation in the West Midlands.
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