All good things at the Bridge Community Hub
Written by Mike Fowler
Foodbank is a great way for our church to make a real difference in our community and to do what
we can to combat isolation and poverty.
The nutritionally balanced parcels are well designed to support people for three days when they are
short of food, but they don’t give people a lot of choice and we often have guests leaving items
behind. We’re fortunate to have lots of space to store food and welcome guests so we’ve been
hatching plans to give people more choice over what food they get and to give them opportunities to
contribute if they can.
Two weeks ago, with the support of ACTS Trust HQ, we decided that instead of offering pre-made
parcels we would lay out the tins, tea bags and everything else on our shelves and let people choose
what they get, albeit still following the official food parcel contents list.
Our volunteers say the scheme feels more empowering for guests and gives them a chance to chat as
people try to decide between tea and coffee (we prefer tea) and the scores of cereals we have on
offer.
A couple of our more grizzled veterans have said they prefer to be given a pre-packed parcel, but on
the whole our volunteers, guests and just-passing-through onlookers seem in favour of personal choice. As Volunteer Team Leader, my job is to make sure everyone gets a brew at regular intervals
and occasionally sits down for a break. Easier said than done.
Once or twice a week, depending on the availability of volunteer chefs, we host a community meal
and try to get everyone chatting and eating. Hopefully these conversations will lead to cooking
lessons and maybe more food bank guests getting involved in preparing food.
Stage Two of our nearly cunning plan is to secure reliable supplies of fruit and vegetables and then
offer people real vegetables when they’re looking at tins of carrots and tinned potatoes. Stage Three
involves supplying people with the means to grow their own vegetables at home and donate some of
it back to us, but that might be a promised land we never reach.
We’re lucky to have the space to offer more choice. Not everyone can, but it feels good to put more
power in the hands of our guests and to hopefully give them a chance to get involved.
Now if we could only convince them to bring their own bags…
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Your regular donations make an enormous difference to the lives of the people who use our facilities
here at Bridge Community Hub, as can be seen above.
Please consider making a positive impact on the lives of those less fortunate by clicking here.
