Month: June 2024

A community publication designed by Keighley Creative with input from numerous local organisations opens door to help during cost-of-living crisis.

Keighley community organisations have come together to help people struggling in the cost-of-living crisis.

Arts charity Keighley Creative has produced a newspaper-style guide with pointers to where to get support, in an easy-to-read format.

Open Door also contains healthy recipes to feed four people with costs as low as 72p per person. The publication is being distributed throughout the local area, with team members handing out copies at Asda and Morrisons supermarkets, and is available at community centres.

It has information for Keighley folk on getting advice on a range of subjects including debt management, mental health, benefits, food, immigration, warmth, health and wellbeing, form filling, safe spaces and addiction.

The project has brought people together to create one large network of organisations including Keighley Creative, Highfield Community Association, Keighley Healthy Living, Salvation Army, Keighley Pathways, Worth Valley Food Bank, Eden Community Association, Good Food Shop, Bangladeshi Community Association, Sangat Centre, Hainworth Wood Community Association and the Keighley Association for Women and Children Centre.

Aimee Grundell, who led the production of the paper, said: “As the cost-of-living crisis continues, we became increasingly aware that a lot of support services that were promoted were either national or Bradford focused. Phone numbers for urgent help often put people through to call centres or to people that were quite removed from Keighley. We wanted to help by providing a friendly hello and clear information on how to directly find support within town itself. There are lots of resources and helpful people in Keighley, it’s just knowing how to access them.”

All the contact links are local 01535 landline numbers.

Many of the people providing support services in Keighley have themselves experienced poverty and the newspaper tells some of their inspirational stories. One contributor, Rachel, who now works for the Salvation Army, in the past had to contact local organisations herself when her family were struggling to make ends meet and she now uses those experiences to help others.

Open Door includes cheap, healthy and easy recipes created by Keighley Healthy Living and based on foodbank staples, to help struggling families put an affordable but delicious meal on the table. It gives guidance to those that would like to improve their mental health with free resources. It features some fun activities for children and features illustrations from local artist Rebecca Buchanan and graphic design by Lee Goater. Bob Smith provided photography. 

Aimee Grundell added: “Keighley organisations have tried to take a different approach to supporting the community and hopefully we can help ensure that local people don’t encounter closed doors or have their time wasted.”

Asda’s Keighley store manager Mark Corps said: “We’re happy to support this free publication created by local groups for our customers and townsfolk. They’re available in Asda Keighley to pick up near our customer service desk.”

For more information or to receive a copy of the Open Door newspaper, please email admin@keighleycreative.org or grab a copy from Asda.

The project has been funded by some of the organisations involved, along with Bradford Council, Citizens Advice, Department of Work and Pensions, Feeding Bradford and Keighley, The Healthy Growth Initiative, JAMES Project and Keighley area co-ordinators office.