Local community group Meir Matters has relocated with Swiftys to the old library on Sandon Road, Meir.

Now space has been made available dedicated to Meir Matters to grow and expand. Previously the community group had been the main pub area at Swiftys on Weston Road.

The group, which has been running for five years, is responsible for many of the community-led events in Meir, such as the Christmas lights, community litter picks and recently a food bank, where they are inviting people to become food waste warriors.

In the past two weeks since inviting people to become food waste warriors the community group has saved 1600 tonnes of food which is the equivalent of over 800 meals.

Steve Mason has been volunteering for Meir Matters for the past three weeks to give something back to the community and utilise the skills from previous jobs such as counselling. 

The 61 year old said: "For various reasons me and my partner have found ourselves out of work at the moment and this is a good opportunity to give something back and why not use the experience that I've got to full advantage."

Meir Matters volunteers Alison Russell and Darren Thys (LDRS).

On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday the group runs a community lounge which has expert advice to help with benefits, housing and mental health. However, most people come down for a chat, say volunteers.

There are also evening events which are taking place to further bring the community together. Volunteer Darren Thys said: "This space is ideal and separate and has been very positive in terms of footfall.

"There are a lot of people in social isolation, I'm semi-retired and I'm on my own and this charity brings people together. People get out, they are helping the community and they are enjoying it."

Michelle Swift, founder of Meir Matters said: "For Meir Matters to develop and do even more we need our own space. So the new site is ideal because half is the pub and the other can be used for Meir Matters for events and activities.

"It now has its own space where they can do activities, which is better because running it out of a pub can be a trigger for some people, especially around mental health workshops which we are running."

All the activities are run by volunteers who are qualified and they won't do anything which doesn't comply with the law. So Meir Matters are inviting all residents to pop into the community lounge for a cup of tea and a chat.

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