A community charity in Pewsey is celebrating after receiving in £12,500 in grants to support its work in fighting hunger and loneliness in Wiltshire communities.

Positive Community Action, formerly Pewsey Community Coronavirus Assistance (PCCA), has been given £8,000 from The Prince’s Countryside Fund and £4,500 from The Allen Lane Foundation.

Based in Pewsey, the organisation will use the funding to pay for equipment and running costs for their new headquarters - a double-decker bus - plus the rental costs for their weekly Friendship Café and Community Market.

PCA Director Phil Brady says: “We’re delighted that The Prince’s Countryside Fund and Allen Lane Foundation has recognised the work of our organisation.

“The funding we have received from these organisations will help PCA empower families as well as individuals living alone and help rural communities to survive and thrive. 

“We will continue with our regular services which include Foodshare, Community Meals, BURP (Basic Universal Resource Pack), our weekly Friendship Café plus seasonal cultural projects which can include anyone who would like  to get involved. However, now with the bus we have the ability to reach those who, for whatever reason, at the moment cannot reach us.

“We have been extremely grateful for the support of local professionals and businesses who have generously provided their services, time and materials for free to help PCA get this project underway. PCA can’t thank them enough.

“We have never had a home of our own and throughout the pandemic we moved premises several times. The support of these Trusts means that we can continue to support those in our local area but also branch out to surrounding villages, reaching more rural isolated communities in Wiltshire.

“We are very grateful to The Methodist Church in Pewsey where we are currently based but having our own dedicated hub space means we can put our roots down to enable us grow the service.

The organisation was founded in February 2020 by current director Phil Brady in response to the local community’s need for help at the beginning of Covid-19 and has been working to support the community in Wiltshire ever since.

It was then recognised just how severe some people’s suffering had become and PCCA evolved into PCA (Positive Community Action) and continues to fight food waste, food poverty, malnutrition, loneliness, isolation and cultural deprivation.