Christian Christmas Bonanza: Leicester Foodshare
Hundreds of people in need will have a better Christmas due to the combined efforts of two projects run by the Diocese of Leicester Social Responsibility team. Leicester FoodShare and Wish on a Star are joining forces for a giant Christmas ‘handout’.
Gifts and food supplies will be
distributed to more than 20 groups that support people enduring
hardship or destitution in the City and County. These groups include
projects working with elderly people; the homeless; asylum seekers
and refugees; and the Red Cross. The distribution will take place at
St. Paul’s Worship Centre, off King Richards Road in Leicester, on
Tuesday 18th December, at 3pm.
Rev. Gill Jackson, Director of Social Responsibility for the Diocese
of Leicester, said, “The hard work of the volunteers and the
compassion of those who have made donations is going to make a real
difference this Christmas to many people. Simply knowing that others
care is very important to people living on the margins of society.”
Leicester FoodShare is the title of a project launched earlier this
year by Rev. Gill Jackson, who linked the Diocese to FareShare, the
national food charity (www.fareshare.org.uk), and established a
project where ambient food is collected from the FareShare
Birmingham depot and transported to Leicester, for distribution
(free of charge) to community groups that meet the FareShare
criteria of serving vulnerable people suffering from food poverty.
The Wish on a Star scheme involves
people in parishes across the city and county taking a star from a
Christmas tree in their local church. On it will be written a
suggested gift for an asylum seeker, refugee or homeless person,
which they are asked to buy and wrap. The collection of gifts is
brought in from the parishes, in time for distribution before
Christmas. Last year this generated many hundreds of gifts.
Bishop Tim Stevens, the Bishop of Leicester, said, “Living in our
midst are people who are vulnerable and suffering who deserve our
compassion and understanding. I am delighted that the Diocese is
actively involved in bringing hope to others this Christmas.”
