25th April 2023
Sanctuary Supported Living
A Haverhill homelessness service in surplus of food donations is paying it forward in the local community for others who are experiencing financial crisis or hardship.
Sanctuary Supported Living’s Haverhill Homeless Supported Housing, which provides support for adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, is part of Lidl’s ‘Feed It Back’ network which encourages customers to tackle food poverty by buying one of two items of food, like basmati rice and tinned fruit, and putting it to good use by donating it to those in need. From the donations, emergency food parcels are made up for people who move into Haverhill Homeless Supported Housing, who find it difficult to manage financially.
Staff at the service, who help residents to maintain a tenancy and develop their daily living skills, were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community, found that they were in excess of pasta and teabags, as well as baby nappies. To share the community kindness, they contacted independent charity, REACH, who also run the Haverhill Foodbank and organised a donation of a huge 167kg of food to support people in crisis in the town.
In exchange, Haverhill Foodbank donated twelve personal essential welcome packs, containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap and washing powder to the Sanctuary Supported Living service.
"We’re touched at the kind-heartedness of the community"
Specialist Project Worker, Paula Chadwick, said: “We’re touched at the kind-heartedness of the community who have been so good to us with their donations - we’re incredibly thankful for their support in feeding bellies and not bins! When we realised we had food to spare, we didn’t want to waste anything and we wanted to help others in the community. We thought that the best way to pay it forward was to link in with REACH who share our mission to support people who are experiencing hardship to fulfil their potential to live their best lives.”
Foodbank Coordinator, Vicky Chandler, added: "We naturally overlap with Sanctuary Supported Living in our efforts to help people in financial or housing crisis rise above and out of their crisis. When they contacted us about their generous donation of food and other items for us to pass on to others, we were delighted! We wanted to reciprocate and, thanks to our donors, were able to supply something useful to those arriving at Haverhill Homeless Supported Housing without the basic essentials.
“It's so important for local services to work in harmony to help find solutions that benefit the hardest hit in the community, and we thank Sanctuary Supported Living for contacting us and role-modelling this."
For more information about Sanctuary Supported Living’s services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, see our latest news or find a service near you.
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