During Lockdown Food Is Being Donated To The Homeless Up And Down The UK
In times of crisis, communities and organisations across the UK are coming together to help the homeless. Here are two examples that caught our eye.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, London charity The Passage has been on the frontline working hard to keep homeless people safe. They have been responding rapidly to keep pace with the situation as it develops, refocusing their services to operate an emergency response in line with government guidance.
Within a matter of weeks, they have moved hundreds of vulnerable people into emergency temporary accommodation and their key priority now is to ensure they are well fed and don’t return to the streets. Although it is a strange and uncertain time for many, the majority of us are lucky enough to have regular access to food and medical supplies. It is not so straightforward for those who are homeless.
The Passage have just launched a #DonateYourDinner campaign to help fund a new Food Hub supporting homeless people in temporary accommodation. This service is being run from The Passage kitchen, where frontline staff and volunteers are preparing and delivering emergency food parcels to 320 people, seven days a week. To keep the project operational, they need to raise £300,000 over the next ten weeks. This will ensure that people relying on the services do not go hungry. There are also options to pay for multiple food parcels for those who are able to do a little more.
Mick Clarke, Chief Executive of The Passage, said: “So far we have been extremely grateful to receive celebrity support from cookery legend Mary Berry, who has donated a special recipe for our Food Hub, and celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain.” As the former Great British Bake Off winner said, commenting on the campaign: “Let’s not let homelessness become normal. Let’s not walk past.”
Meanwhile, at the other end of the UK in Inverness, Scotland, the community is under lockdown and the local mosque is closed. However, that is not stopping its members from giving back to the community.
The mosque is donating the food that it would typically make for worshippers during the sacred month of Ramadan to the homeless, as well as others. The initiative began with the help of the mosque’s members who gave money and donated ingredients for the meals.
Ramadan began last Thursday (April 23) and is considered the holiest months in the Islamic calendar where Muslims observe fasting during the day as a symbolic gesture of their devotion to their faith. It is also a time of prayer and reflection.
“Multiple chefs volunteered to prepare freshly cooked meals in various take-away kitchens who again had to close due to the circumstances,” the Inverness Masjid Association wrote on its website. “We prepared huge batches for the homeless & families in need on two separate occasions, meals that would normally be eaten by worshipers when they open their fast (sunset) in Ramadan was distributed to local charities such as the Ness Bank Church’s food bank & ‘Our Place Cafe – In This Together’.”
According to a post on the Inverness Masjid Facebook page, they have managed to prepare and package over 300 meals with ingredients donated by EurAsia Cash and Carry, a local restaurant supply store. All of the meals have been prepared and cooked by volunteer chefs.
