Baking bread brought families together in Ormskirk thanks to a Feast of Fun at Home half term activity funded through social justice charity Together Liverpool.

Ormskirk Parish Church partnered with a local independent bakery to deliver bread baking boxes with ingredients including flour and yeast, to thirty families.

Each box came with instructions for how to make the bread, with colouring and puzzle sheets for children to learn the Bible story about Jesus feeding of the five thousand.

Ormskirk Fo F Feb 21 montage

Ormskirk Parish church (St Peter and St Paul), received a £300 Feast of Fun at Home Grant from Together Liverpool.

Vicar at the church Rev Pauline Bicknell said: “It was important for us to do this as outreach to our community. We are closed at the moment so it was a good way of reminding people we are still here for them.

“Ten boxes were delivered to families the church is connected with through our Sunday School and Tiddlers group for parents, grandparents and children. Ten went out through Ormskirk C of E Primary School, and ten were distributed through Ormskirk Foodbank.

“We wanted to provide a way for families to have fun together and to work together."

The church said the benefits were:

  • It has given people a well-being boost.
  • Families have had fun.
  • The idea has made people smile and realise there are some good things happened despite the misery of lockdown and all the news being depressing.
  • Families have appreciated what is effectively a ‘random act of kindness’ because we didn’t means test the families or insist on any other criteria
  • It helped the Vicar connect with people as she stood on the doorstep delivering the boxes to families
  • It meant that we as a church were visible and out in the community.
  • It helped support a local business
  • It told people something of Jesus through the colouring and puzzle sheets.
  • It enabled us to do something we wouldn’t’ have done without the grant.
Ormskirk Parish Church bread baking Feast of Fun Feb 21

Rev Bicknell said: “We wouldn’t have thought of doing this without the Feast of Fun at Home funding from Together Liverpool. There are a number of families we would not have reached out to as a church and engaged with.”

Among the baking bread box recipients was Helen Clarke, (pictured with partner Stephen Shaw, and daughters Ava Shaw 8, and Ivy Shaw, 4).

Helen said: “It went really well I baked the bread with my youngest daughter Ivy. It was so nice and gave us something to do. I help with the Sunday School. I work full time and so to have something nice to do, do and to spend quality time together, was really valuable.

“We’ve all enjoyed eating the bread and we’ll definitely do it again.

“It’s nice to know that the church are thinking about the children. It’s been really hard this year with church being closed to engage the young people. It’s really nice for the children to know they are not being forgotten even though we are not all together.”

Ormskirk Parish Church worksheets Feast of Fun Feb 2021

Rev Bicknell added: “Bread baking is also a skill people can use again. It is healthy, it induces a feeling of wellbeing through touch, taste and smell."

“The idea behind the colouring sheets and the puzzle sheets, about the feeding of the 5000, will link this all together for them with Christ’s message.

“The boxes were provided by Mr Thompson’s’ Bakery. This is a local independent bakery. Neil works from home and has a stall on Ormskirk market.

“He is a member of our church, a lovely man who makes amazing cakes. During the first lockdown he provided these boxes out of his own pocket, as a gift for the elderly. He was also presented with a High Sheriff’s award for his community spirit during the pandemic.

“As a church we wanted to extend this to families. It hopefully gives them an interest in doing things together, it is healthy, and money saving, and helps teach children patience as they have to wait for bread to rise!”