The charity’s purposes are to benefit the residents of Wigan by bringing them together with the local authority. Voluntary and other organisations in common effort to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the residents. Through the Deal which was introduced into communities about 4 years ago and they signed up to the theories, policies and new ways of working together with their Partners and thanks to the Council they have been able to expand. This has been achieved under the stewardship of one of the Trustees, acting as the CEO, Barbara Nettleton.

They have strong partnerships with Wigan Rotary Club, the Council, GMP, HCB Solicitors, Centric, Fairhurst Accountants, Fair Share and Neighbourly. Wigan Rotary’s partnership with Sunshine House is very important to both organisations and is about building trust and learning to work together.

They rely on volunteers who are the lifeblood of the organisation. The volunteers are offered formal training such a Level 2 Food Safety and Health and Safety qualifications.

The Sunshine House Agenda is enormous and covers such a wonderful variety of ways of helping people in need. They have The Peoples Cafe which is open to the public seven days a week. It provides nutritious meals. In addition they cater for buffets and functions, offer afternoon vintage tea and cream tea afternoons. They have introduced a fresh Deli Bar plus a children’s corner. They are looking for funding to assist with renovations to the Cafe, Dining Room and Kitchen, where the bulk of the costs lie.
Wigan Rotary Club President Rosemary Charles commented that prior to lockdown “Fishey Friday” was a highlight of her week when she and other Rotarians would go and partake of a superb fish and chip lunch!

Wigan Rotary’s support and donations has helped in so many different ways, as Barbara says “ it's not all about food”-“Just for example we did a 'Good Neighbour Week' asking people to nominate a neighbour who had done a good deed or who they had befriended, each one nominated got a write up on Facebook with pictures. We delivered afternoon tea and scones, and in total there were seven ‘good neighbours’. She went on to say “The assistance we get from clothing donations from Wigan Rotary has been very helpful and supports our ‘Walking Wardrobe’ which offers people good quality clothing, especially men’s wear, for interviews and job support which Sunshine House are intending to re-introduce as and when the country moves back into a new normal way of life and which will help enormously”.

Rotary donations have also helped them to purchase goods for their Points Pantry which works like the old Green Shield Stamps scheme. It has been a great success by way of getting people to get extra goods by spending a little. Two drivers pick up food from supermarkets and other food outlets every day to ensure they get good quality food in the Pantry. This food would normally go direct into landfill.

There is also the Mother Babies and Tots Shop placed in one of the most deprived areas of Wigan. They provide prams baby and tots clothes, games and toys to young mums, families in crisis and families who struggle on benefits. There is also the Charity Shop, providing a variety of good quality clothing as mentioned above, for free or a small donation to people who are long term unemployed, participating in a “back to work “ course. If they are successful they are offered 12 months clothing for work and leisure for under £5.00.