Welcome to the Advent Calendar, day 21. St Aidan’s FoodShare has been tirelessly working to provide for anyone in need for years.
During the pandemic, I became aware of St Aidan’s FoodShare, I came very close to needing it myself during a particularly rough patch when I had been in between jobs longer than I’d expected.
I was fortunate; my family were in a position to help me bridge that time between jobs. I tell you this to highlight something, most Foodbanks need referrals and/or vouchers, and if you’re receiving the right support, hopefully, these are easy to come by, but if you don’t qualify or are unclear about how to get that referral, or simply do not qualify even though you are plainly in need, St Aidan’s FoodShare becomes ever more vital. You see St. Aidan’s doesn’t require referrals or vouchers. If you are in need, they will help you.
I’m a comfortably well off, middle aged, middle income white collar worker – and I nearly found myself in that desperate need. So I offer no judgement on those in need, I save my judgement for the system that lets children live below the poverty line, that rejects people that with help add to society and tries to keep them down, and hungry, and cold.
Places like St Aidan’s are the only counter to this. They are celebrated by the political classes with photoshoots, ignored in policy making, and mocked in political discourse. The politician’s answer, people can live off 30p a day, said while claiming £150k+ in expenses.
Politicians can learn a lot from how food banks and charities treat people.
They treat their customers with dignity and are as flexible as possible. During the height of the pandemic and social distancing, food parcels were in bags. People queued up, picked up a bag and were on their way. However, once social distancing ended, the process opened up, and it became more of a market, with tables and trays of goods, and people could request what they needed.
It’s a well organised operation with volunteers working during the week to arrange the donations, so they are ready to respond and move quickly come Saturday mornings when the FoodShare opens at 1030am.
I got to see them in action earlier this year when dropping off a donation gathered by colleagues and employer, you can see people going through, my mum who helped me out with her car, as it was a lot of cans, and volunteers helping unload the car, and the supplies they had at the time.
Help and support provided by St Aidan’s FoodShare, has never been more vital. In November, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 10.7% higher than at the same point last year. There are many reasons for inflation, which I’m not going to go into, save to say some of them are beyond the government’s control, but others very firmly are. Bad choices have been made by those with power.
St Aidan’s FoodShare is open this Christmas Eve, at the usual times 1030am to 12noon, if you are struggling, or you are in need – there is somewhere you can go for help, so you and your family can have something to eat this Christmas. It’s also open New Years Eve too.
St Aidan’s relies on donations, and gets some from supermarket donations, but it needs more. Whether you can donate a little, or a lot, anything would be welcome.
Harehills ❤️ Love 
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