Community Stories
Celebration of your stories
Welcome to community stories, a place to share news and celebrate what is happening in your community. If you have any stories you would like to feature on our page or in next months newsletter please get in touch at communityresilience@coventry.gov.uk or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Action Family Network C.I.C awarded lottery funding to deliver, Bridges Beyond Words: Helping Young People Feel at Home
For many young people from migrant, refugee, and minority backgrounds, arriving in a new place can feel overwhelming and lonely. Bridges Beyond Words is changing that.
Over the next 24 months, we’re creating welcoming, youth-led spaces where 11–18-year-olds can connect, grow, and be themselves. Our weekly Welcome Circles and fun Language Clubs (two 2-hour sessions each) help young people build friendships and confidence in a relaxed, supportive environment.
Each young person will also be matched with a trained peer mentor—someone who understands their journey and offers guidance with schoolwork, joining activities, or simply navigating life in a new community.
Once a month, we’ll bring families, neighbours, and young people together for community celebrations filled with food, music, and shared stories.
This project was shaped directly by the voices of local young people and their families, who told us they need safe spaces, connection, and help overcoming language barriers. Thanks to funding support from the Community Resilience Team National leading to the Lottery awarding £19,712, we’re ready to build those bridges—and help every young person feel seen, valued, and truly at home’.
Highland Road Allotment Hub Officially Opens!
After months of planning and hard work, the Highland Road allotment group’s vision for a community hub has become a reality. Back in early 2025, the group approached the Community Resilience Team for support in securing funding to create a dedicated space for local residents. Thanks to a successful bid to the National Lottery Awards for All small grants fund, £9,000 was awarded to bring this project to life.
Throughout the summer, volunteers from the allotment group worked tirelessly to assemble the hub, transforming the site into a welcoming space for community activities and events. On October 19th, 2025, the hub was officially opened by Stefan Overson from the Community Resilience Team, marking a proud moment for everyone involved.
The new hub will serve as a focal point for local engagement, offering opportunities for social connection, skill-sharing, and resilience-building within the community.
Previous Stories
Welcome to community stories, a place to share news and celebrate what is happening in your community. If you have any stories you would like to feature on our page or in next months newsletter please get in touch at communityresilience@coventry.gov.uk or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
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October's Community Stories
St Francis of Assisi’s food hub has welcomed much needed support from Local Construction Company GF Tomlinson!
St Francis of Assisi runs in the heart of the community in Radford offering a wide range of services and support to the local community such as employment support, volunteering, ESOL and one of their most successful offers of support in their weekly food hub.
The food hub supports 60 registered families in the area providing a bag of essential food supplies each week. The hub relies on donations from local residents or businesses and on it making successful applications for funding grants... Continue reading
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September's Community Stories
Local Developer Support Food Hub in need!
Local developers Bowmer and Kirkland and their contractors MFP Linings Ltd have kindly donated bags of dried food and goods to the Tile Hill Food Hub run by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church after an urgent call for donations.
The food hub was in need of donations due to an increase in families needing to access the food hub. To help them out, the Community Resilience Team reached out to their contacts at Bowmer and Kirkland’s to see if they could help as part of their social value commitment to the city.
They... Continue reading -
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August's Community Stories
The Indian Community Centre receiving funding from the Community Recovery and Support Grant
The Indian Community Centre based in Foleshill, received £1,590 of funding from the from the Community Resilience Team's Community Recovery and Support Grant.
The centre was in need of support post lock down for one of the daytime activities that uses the space several days a week. Since lockdown they had struggled getting some service users to come back to their pre-lockdown activities, this had impacted their finances to run the group with fewer members attending and paying a small fee. For the short term the grant... Continue reading
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July's Community Stories
Lenton’s Lane Baptist Church receives funding from the Recovery and Support Grant and Severn Trent!
Lenton’s Lane Baptist Church is situated in the Northeast of the city and lies within the Longford Ward. The Community Resilience Team (CRT) initially contacted the church during the Covid19 lockdown period but were told it was closed until things returned to normal, but they would appreciate support once normality returned as they had ideas for projects they would like to run.
Once the lockdown periods ended the team engaged with the church to discuss their ideas. The church leader Barry Keegan said they wanted... Continue reading
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June's Community Stories
Local charity Baby Godiva's growing success after successful funding opportunities and support from the team!
Over the last 18 months the Community Resilience Team have been supporting a local charity called Baby Godiva. The charity provides free of charge, pre-loved and new nursery items and consumables to families living in poverty.
Since the charity’s formation in 2019 it has helped 1,834 families with over 6,000 items, and the CRT has supported them in applying to a variety of funders. Since receiving support from the CRT they have been successful in bringing in around £40,000 worth of external funding so that... Continue reading
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April/May Community Stories
Godiva Sisters membership thriving after being awarded the Community Recovery and Support Grant
The Community Resilience team have recently helped the Godiva Sisters apply to the Community Recovery and Support Grant so they could get some support for their group following the pandemic. The Godiva Sisters were formed twenty years ago and is made up of local women from all faiths and cultures who meet to portray characters both ancient and modern. They also raise the profile of minority groups and engendering community cohesion.
The sessions the Sisters run are mostly self-funded, and because of the pandemic they could not... Continue reading
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March Community Stories
Confidence Through Photography Group is welcoming new members
A night time shot of Coventry Cathedral taken by Neil
The group was set up in 2017 by Neil Catley who felt there was not much for people with mental health and anxiety issues to do at the weekend. Prior to setting up the group Neil who had agoraphobia did not leave the house for 5 years, this all changed when his mum bought him a camera which he would take to his local park and capture pictures.
Neil set up Confidence through photography a group that meets for coffee and photo... Continue reading