Whatsoever you do to the least of my people January 2012
Knocks on the church door seeking food handouts, newspaper articles featuring various initiatives to help feed some of the poorest 10% of people in the UK, and a call through the Global Aware Network to a meeting to be held in November in Bedminster for interested parties to establish something in South Bristol all felt like God was seriously prompting me to look into the effects of this issue within the parish of St Pius X.
The Parish covers almost 3 of the super output areas in South Bristol and part of Dundry, just over 30,000 people. The Bristol Council 2010 figures show the extent of deprivation in the area. My curiosity roused, I went into St Pius X School to discover 62% families receive free school meals. 
Unbeknown to me, at the same time, Judith Carpenter, the vicar at Withywood Church, had been to see a foodbank at Shirehampton in action and was very moved, seeing it as a real practical outworking of the gospel, demonstrating God's love for some of the poorest people in our communities. She came away thinking it is just where the churches should be and is something we should and could do together. A group from Withywood Church also attended the meeting in Bedminster.
Those of us from the Hartcliffe & Withywood area were most interested in The Matthew Tree Project (TMTP) which was established here in Bristol in July 2010. Their vision is to work in partnership with all denominations, community groups, local and national government, and local business to make a significant contribution to tackling the underlying causes and effects of poverty in the UK. The TMTP offer to respect the individual, provide food aid, outreach care, love and support to assist individuals and families out of poverty. Be it due to family breakdown, unmanageable personal debt, worklessness and benefit dependency, addiction, educational failure or any combination of these, TMTP offer whatever support is needed.
This is done through
• Prayer that God will provide what is needed
• Receiving ‘client’ referrals from carefully selected agencies.
• The generosity of shoppers who donate specified items and the volunteers who help collect it at the supermarket. (About 1.5 tonnes of food is collected in this way each time).
• Volunteers who open up the Foodstores warmly welcoming the clients, checking the referrals, calculating the food they are to receive using the Food Standard Agencies guidelines for the right amount of protein, carbohydrate and so on and providing assistance with the ‘shopping’ if needed.
• Those who manage the volunteers and the stock control.
• Volunteer outreach support care workers who are trained to provide the right kind of support - when it is most needed, in a loving and caring way.
• Donations for funding.
The TMTP helped the Hartcliffe & Withywood Group open a trial Christmas Foodstore for 2 sessions at the Withywood Centre to provide emergency food aid to families in desperate and immediate need who had been referred by local primary schools. They provided 220 meals for 22 children! Those who came really appreciated the lovely relaxed atmosphere and the help received.
When the TMTP delivered the first lot of food there were some key commodities missing and both St Pius X and the Sacred Heart contributed towards a quick appeal to provide these items. I happened to be the one sent off with the shopping list which included assorted biscuits. Now was this different packets or a packet of assorted biscuits! What a dilemma. A special offer on the boxes of assorted biscuits made the decision. One of the clients said very emotionally that now she would be able to give the kids a present to open for Christmas and they would be over the moon to have a choice – all for the sake of £2.50!
The H&W Group will need more volunteers and to fundraise:
It has been quickly realised that to be more effective, a part-time paid co-ordinator to manage the number of volunteers and the stock is needed. (Judith estimates this to be £2500-£3000 per annum).
The Group should make a contribution to the work of TMTP who are providing so many of the admin materials, training, storage and the van and diesel to get the food to Withywood.
YOU can become involved simply by giving whatever you can afford from the shopping list when we have our food collections or by contacting me if you want to help in any of the other areas.
This type of project is an exciting and practical example of how Christians together, serving the local community can change the lives of those around them, but almost as important is how we, who are carrying out this simple service are changed ourselves, affirmed in our faith and drawn ever closer as Churches through positive action and prayer.
God Bless
Debbie
