The project successfully re-opened in early January with the necessary Covid measures in place. Your generosity helped to make it possible to provide an extra £10 Christmas gift card to clients in December. During that month the project:
- Greeted over 200 refugees and those seeking asylum
- Distributed 1163 bags of food/toiletries worth over £5,800
- Provided £1,300 of supermarket vouchers and £2,530 Christmas gift cards
This could not have happened without the on-going contributions of food and finance from parishes, schools and individuals – and, of course, the extra efforts of our team of dedicated volunteers.
We were delighted to receive an unexpected donation from St Mary’s Catholic School in Benton. Over 150 large, beautifully wrapped boxes of food donations arrived – requiring 2 trips in their jammed-packed minibus to deliver them! Each box came with a Christmas card and a real spirit of generosity and care for others.
During the year ahead we are very keen to continue to develop the project’s involvement with parishes and to engage with more schools. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how you can be involved.
With the gradual move away from sending supermarket vouchers electronically and receiving more callers to the centre, staff and volunteers are once again developing more personal and supportive relationships with those we serve. For example, one client’s mental health has really improved and he now has the confidence and desire to come in person to the centre because he has been treated so well and appropriately to his needs. Another knows that people are there to support him as he faces life threatening surgery – he didn’t have anyone else.
We receive donations of food, clothing and footwear on Mondays between 10.30am and 1.30pm. The list of items we are currently collecting is available here.
For more details about our work and how you can assist, please contact Sara Harris, Project Co-ordinator at sara.harris@diocesehn.org.uk or 07407 091184 or visit our webpage.