Churches provide 3,000+ Feast of Fun meals to help tackle holiday hunger
More than 3,000 meals were provided for children and families as sixteen churches hosted Network of Kindness Feast of Fun activities to help tackle holiday hunger over the 2023 Easter break.
Churches in Sefton, Liverpool, St Helens, Wigan and Knowsley received a Feast of Fun microgrant thanks to a partnership between Together Liverpool, and food services business Meals & More.
More than 220 volunteers gave their time to offer healthy meals and activities such as crafts, storytelling, dance and football, during the 2023 Easter holidays across the Diocese of Liverpool.
All of the participating churches are Network of Kindness members, delivering social action to help make a bigger difference in their local community.
Among them, St Thomas church in Wigan South Parish provided 458 meals including lunch parcels and breakfast items for families needing extra support during the school holidays.
An outside treasure hunt at St Mark’s church in St Helens included time spent in the church greenhouse talking about how fruit and vegetables are grown.
St Barts in Roby held a community Easter party with games followed by a meal of vegetable pasta bolognaise, fresh fruit salad and cake. Liverpool North Central Methodist circuit hosted two 'Easter Eggstravanzas' with pitta pizza making, seasonal crafts and an egg hunt.
St James in the City provided dance and football workshops with Liverpool YFC, with food activities including fruit smoothie making. Ainsdale Methodist church partnered with Compassion Acts to provide free meals for 121 people during a fun day. Christ Church Norris Green provided breakfast and lunch during a three-day holiday club in partnership with Triple C.
Several churches partnered with other organisations to deliver their activities, including, Compassion Acts, Liverpool Youth For Christ, and the TANGO community project in St Helens, Triple C community organisation in Norris Green, local primary schools and other churches.
The events reached more than 1,840 children young people and adults. Almost all reached children in receipt of free school meals and single parent families; eight churches reached BAME families and six reached children who are asylum seekers or refugees.
Rev Rebecca Cottrell, of Christ Church Norris Green said: “Connecting with Church and Non Church families was really great, being able to draw on resources from Scripture Union and have access to good, healthy food meant that all aspects of the program went really well and were of a high quality. To be able to offer this activity for free in our community was deeply valued by those that attended.”
Natalie Vickerson of Hope Church Kensington said: “People were able to build community together, meeting new people and enjoying different cultures - including food from different cultures… It enabled us to strengthen relationships with people in our community, particularly those who attend Hope Community Fridge.”
Rev Linda Riley-Dawkin of St Michael with St Thomas, Ditton said: "This grant made a huge difference in strengthening relationships with families in our community. It also provided an opportunity in strengthening our connections with a variety of local community partnerships here in Widnes - who after the success of this event now want to work on more projects together.
"Our Feast of Fun Activity made a massive difference to the families in our community and parents were very grateful for the support that we offered them. A lot of families who are struggling financially shared openly how receiving a healthy lunch for both themselves and their children was a 'weight off my mind' and 'an answer to prayer because I don't get paid until the end of the week'.
“When the Easter Bunny turned up and gave each child an Easter Egg, one mum filled up with tears and whispered, 'Thank you for making such a magical memory for my son because I don't have the money right now to do that'.
Alison Twist of Liverpool North Central Methodist circuit said: “This grant has allowed us to continue to build relationships with families, and meet new families from the community. We have been able to provide healthy food, a little treat and occupy the children, as well as give them an insight into why we celebrate Easter. Thank you!"
Clare Aldridge, Curate at St Bart’s Roby said: “This grant was the only way any activities could have taken place because of the financial situation of the parish. It gave us opportunities to meet families and build relationships that otherwise we would not have been able to do. It allowed us to open our building and easily provide a community focussed activity that otherwise we would have struggled to be able to do.”
Together Liverpool is a social justice charity set up by the Diocese of Liverpool and Church Urban Fund. Everyone in the Diocese of Liverpool area is invited to join the National Lottery-funded Network of Kindness, supporting faith and community groups to take your next step in social action.