November 14, 2016
|By aissagallie
|
Across the north of England our teams are supporting many different groups of people to end homelessness. Whether their needs are immediate and practical or they require longer term intervention, there is a key ingredient that many forms of support share: food, and more specifically, sharing food. Here are two reports from two very different projects, where sharing food is bringing people together and helping to change lives.
The Galleries: Bolognaise and Balanced Diets.
The Galleries is a hostel based service for homeless young people in Richmond North Yorkshire. The residents at The Galleries took part a cook and eat session on Tuesday 1st November facilitated by the new Activities Co-ordinator Graeme Flitcroft. This was the first session under the new activities programme and had a very healthy 80% attendance from the customers who reside in The Galleries.
The purpose of the session was to inform the customers of the importance and benefits of eating a balanced diet alongside giving them the opportunity to try their hand at making a nutritious meal from scratch. After a short presentation on the core subject matter, the customers got stuck in to making themselves a Spaghetti Bolognaise. The session was a great opportunity for the customers to get to know Graeme, to be involved in planning future sessions and to work together as a team making a meal whilst learning about the benefits of having a balanced diet.
Today’s activity showed that incorporating practical activities and Fit Kit in a group session can make learning fun and encourages a team spirit within the hostel environment. It was good to see the customers interacting to complete the task rather than isolating themselves – Staff Member
Durham: Durham join Fare Share
Our Durham team work to reduce homelessness for ex-offenders. The team and their customers are ecstatic to be working with ‘Fare Share’ in partnership with their local Tesco store. Everyone has been overwhelmed with the amount of food that is being donated every Friday morning for customers to take home during the office drop in and the coffee group.
It is a fantastic scheme that offers unwanted food to those who need it instead of going to land fill. Durham hope to continue the partnership which is much appreciated by all of the Durham customers. Thank you Fare Share and Tesco!
If you would like to volunteer or support a Foundation project in your local area, please get in touch!