Circuit News & Events
Winter Soup Kitchen:
Food Rescue and Redistribution at Leytonstone Methodist Church
Since February 2019 Leytonstone Methodist Church has been hosting
Transition Leytonstone's Community Fridge Project. Sacks of bakery and morning
goods donated by local branches of Gail's Bakery, Tescos, Salisbury's and Today
Bread, are set out on a stall next to the church every Friday/Saturday/Sunday
from noon until 3 pm (or earlier, if the food runs out). Anyone and everyone is
welcome to take what they need, with help and advice from the knowledgeable
volunteers. This is not a food bank, but a waste reduction project, which at
the same time helps people access food that they would perhaps struggle to
afford. Approximately 60 people use the stall every day: mums, dad with
children, toddlers, and babies, churchgoers, cake 'addicts', pensioners,
teachers, jobless folk, rough sleepers, and of course least but not least, the
charities and churches who cook for them.
To give you an idea of the scale of this operation, on Sunday,
March 17th 2019, the stall had received a record 84 kgs (185 lbs) of bakery. All of
it went before 3pm, with help from Cann Hall Mosque, the Leytonstone United Free
Church, and the Salvation Army, all of which cook for the homeless and/or run
night shelters. No further proof needed that we are a strong community and
getting stronger all the time!
Diana
Korchien
Project Lead, Community Fridge
and Best Before
Transition Leytonstone
Good news: a new defibrillator
Rev Hilary Cheng, the Minister of Winchester Road Methodist Church is pleased to announce that the members have recently installed a defibrillator on the external church wall, for the use of the church and the community.
She says that as a church at the centre of the community, it feels as if we are the heartbeat of Highams Park.
