Tees Valley Rural Action

🌾 Bread and Butter Loftus – Transport Trial This Summer 🌾

Tees Valley Rural Action is delighted to support a new trial transport offer to help rural residents access the Bread and Butter sessions in Loftus more easily.

Over the summer, we’ll be running two initial dates to enable people to travel to collect their pre-ordered parcels:

📅 Wednesday 22nd July
📅 Wednesday 19th August

From September, we plan to run this every last Wednesday of the month, creating a regular village pick-up service.

🚌 What you need to know:

✅ Places are limited to 14 seats per trip
✅ This is a fully funded offer – no cost to travel
✅ Central village pick-up and drop-off points only (we’re unable to collect from individual homes)
✅ You must be a member of the TBBT Loftus Club and have ordered your parcel in advance
✅ Arrival at TBBT: 1:30pm
✅ Return journey: 2:30pm

📞 We’ll call you back to confirm your time and pick-up point
📞 To book your seat, contact the East Cleveland Good Neighbours Helpline: 07707395934265

We’re excited to give this a try and will review as we go, with the aim of expanding if funding allows. Please bear with us while we get this up and running 💚

🌟 Out and about with our community minibuses! 🌟

We love seeing the difference our minibuses can make 💙

Recently, Middlesbrough Sportability Club used one of our vehicles for trips to Northumberland Zoo 🦁 and the Sunderland Transport Museum 🚍—and what a fantastic day they had!

Having access to safe, accessible transport meant their group could enjoy new experiences, build confidence, and make lasting memories together 📸

🚐 If your organisation supports people in the community, why not join our membership scheme and gain access to our minibuses?

It’s a simple way to open up more opportunities for days out, activities, and connection.

👉 Get in touch to find out more about how we can support your group!

https://teesvalleyruralaction.co.uk/

👏👏A huge congratulations to the Trustees of Skinningrove Village Hall for securing funding, with support from Sam, to replace the out-of-use defibrillator at the village hall.
This was a true team effort from the initial application through to installation, with many organisations coming together to ensure this vital piece of equipment is once again fully operational❤️
Special thanks go to the North East Ambulance Service and VONNE for providing the opportunity and funding, as well as to North Star Housing and the team at Ian Williams for their support with the installation.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved, especially the Trustees, for your continued commitment to supporting your local community and improving access to life saving equipment. Initiatives like this make a real difference, helping to support early defibrillation in the event of a cardiac arrest and ultimately saving lives💪

❤️ We love supporting the volunteers and members at The Bread and Butter Thing – Loftus.

Did you know that East Cleveland Good Neighbours offers both a Food Bank and a Food Club?

While our Food Bank provides emergency support, The Bread and Butter Thing – Loftus is a membership-based Food Club, helping local people access affordable food each week and make their budgets go further.

This fantastic competition is a great way to get involved, share ideas and showcase the amazing meals that can be created from weekly food bags on the original post 🍽️👇

If you haven't discovered The Bread and Butter Thing yet, take a look at the post below and find out more.

Behind every great community are incredible volunteers!🙌This National Volunteers Week, we’re celebrating the heart and soul of our rural neighbourhoods. The amazing individuals who give their time, energy and kindness to support others. From village halls and community buildings to local groups and organisations, your dedication makes a real difference every single day. Thank you for everything you do to bring people together, create opportunities and keep our communities thriving. We truly couldn’t do it without you 💚
Today, Sam met with the fantastic Endeavour students from Prior Pursglove College, who generously volunteer their time each week at Skinningrove Village Hall. Whether it’s serving refreshments, having a friendly chat, or helping keep the hall looking its best, they’re always willing to lend a helping hand. Today, they did a brilliant job filling the planters, while Sam got involved in the kitchen supporting with refreshments. 🌼☕
A huge thank you for your dedication, enthusiasm and the positivity you bring to the community - you make a real difference!
Volunteers' Week

What a brilliant day at our Food Hub with The Bread and Butter Thing! 🥖🧈

Once again, our fantastic volunteers absolutely smashed it — keeping everything running smoothly and supporting our community with their usual mix of hard work, humour and heart. 💚

Today was our second Big Brew session ☕💬 and we opened the doors a little earlier so everyone could grab a cuppa and have a good chat while we all get used to the new system.

A huge thank you to our lovely members for your patience and positivity — you make the place feel like home. 🤗

And can we talk about the venue for a second… because honestly, we might just have the fanciest food club in Tees Valley. 😄✨

Chandeliers! Sparkle! Style! The amazing staff from The Loftus Club clearly know how to dress a room — and they’re not even finished with the refurb yet. 💡💎

Proud of our people. Proud of our community. Proud of what we’re building together. 💛

📢 Have you seen the latest update on the Skinningrove Flood Alleviation Scheme?

This short video explains more about the project and the difference it could make for our community.

We'd also like to remind residents about the upcoming Community Event at Skinningrove Village Hall, where you can find out more about the construction phase of the scheme, ask questions, and speak with representatives involved in the project.

📅 Thursday 4th June
🕒 3pm–7pm
📍 Skinningrove Village Hall

There will also be a craft corner for children (and adults!) to help create artwork for the site hoardings, so come along and get involved.

https://youtu.be/KYISncKudiY?si=QuH3ANPAjLXYfqCY

🎥 Watch the video below and join us on Thursday to learn more about this important project for Skinningrove.

Skinningrove Flood Alleviation Scheme The Environment Agency is working with Redcar and Cleveland Borough...

Great to be back in for my latest surgery this week! 👍

A few different issues covered, including crime, solar panels, and the village hall lease, which I discussed with Helen from the Village Hall and Sam from Tees Valley Rural Action. I will do what I can to help. Thanks to everyone who came - that’s surgery number 8️⃣6️⃣ done so far!

Next up is on Friday 12th. Book your slot here: lukemyer.uk/surgeries

🎉 Happy Volunteers' Week! 🎉

Today, our Community Transport volunteers came together for some long-awaited MiDAS training.

These fantastic volunteers make it possible for us to provide drivers for community groups that don't have their own, helping more people access our minibus service.

It was a great opportunity to share ideas, gather feedback, and celebrate the incredible contribution our volunteers make to the community. We rounded off the day with a meal and good company.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers – your time, dedication and support make a real difference.

If you could spare sometime to join our volunteer team please get in touch.

Follow along as we celebrate more of our amazing volunteers from across the region this week