We have had an updated list of the most pressing items that the Foodbank would be very grateful to receive: 500g bags of sugar, sponge puddings, tinned meat (not hot dogs), sweet biscuits, long life milk, and instant mash; also toiletries: shower gel, shampoo, deodorant, and household items: washing up liquid, loo rolls, small boxes of washing powder. Please avoid baked beans and tea as they have well enough of these and they can go out of date.
Foodbank is also looking for volunteers for their various projects including drivers, people for supermarket collections and people to help with Saturday lunches. Helen Bunclark writes:
“Dear friends, as you may know we host a lunch most Saturdays, for Foodbank clients, at Addlestone Baptist Church. These are an opportunity for those referred to the Foodbank to further engage with us in a more social setting, meet other people and have a lovely hot meal!
Over 50 lunches have been hosted by our team since we launched this mission just over 12 months ago, including an amazing 36 guests at our Christmas lunch on 20 December last year. This means that we have provided well over 700 two-course lunches in that period!
This mission is not just about food for many of our guests, but about the ability to engage and socialise with others. They build friendships and are amazed at just being accepted for who they are, and where they are in their journey through life! Many tell us they look forward to the coming lunch all week, and are really disappointed on the first Saturday of every month when there is currently no lunch held.
Numbers are growing, so there is increased pressure on the Baptist Church as they currently do all the preparation, serving and clearing up.
We would love to see this work continue as we have seen the benefit, and amazing changes, in the lives of those who have been coming regularly. We would also like to see a Christianity Explored or some such course run for these people and to see their lives changed and moved on.
In order to change lives though, we need your help!
Do you have a heart for this type of mission, and are interested in helping to grow this work? Help could be anything from setting up tables, cooking, serving, clearing up or hosting at a table.
We would like to plan the next steps, and would welcome suggestions for how best to now introduce Christianity Explored to those more regular attendees. We currently pray with some guests, but need more people who are willing and able to share the gospel to help us take the next stride forward! It really is worthwhile, and can open a door, which is what it’s really all about at the end of the day!
Responding to this initial request will not mean making any commitment, rather an expression of interest so that we can gather people to a lunch on Saturday 7 March, at Addlestone Baptist Church, at 11.30 where we can discuss how we can best move this mission forward.
If you are interested please contact Sam on 07766 112512 or myself via
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or on 07954 378522, by 1 March, so we can keep track on numbers.