Over this last year, our Meal Share, held regularly on Fridays at St Johns in the Fields has been much enjoyed by many people in our local community, thanks to the generous funding of Neighbourly https://www.facebook.com/nbrlyuk
Everyone receives a warm welcome, a delicious freshly prepared hot meal and pudding and sit together on long tables. This community meal has had a profound impact on people living in our area, creating friendships, support networks and a genuine sense of belonging.
As Claire, the project lead explained, many attendees did not know each other when the group first began, but now they regularly give each other lifts, meet for coffee during the week, help one another with shopping and check in on each other when someone is absent. The meal has become a real lifeline for many people experiencing loneliness and isolation.
A few comments that have been shared:
“I wouldn’t see anyone over the weekend period if I didn’t come for the community meal. I have a takeaway from my Saturday dinner and I feel happy and well-fed all weekend.”
“I didn’t have friends but I made them at this community meal and some of my friends from the meal came to visit me after I was taken ill in hospital. They noticed I didn’t come one Friday and went to knock on my neighbour’s door to check if I was ok. It was a real neighbourhood spirit.”
“I get so exhausted cooking with my illness. I send my two boys, aged 13 and 15, to the community meal on a Friday evening knowing they get a good healthy meal, and then they bring me a takeaway meal and another meal for us to freeze that we eat on the Monday evening, saving me from having to cook for two days a week. I am so grateful for this group.”
The project has become far more than a meal service; it has created lasting friendships, mutual care and a stronger community where people feel valued, supported and less alone.
https://www.neighbourly.com/project/5ee47771c7ac891ffc8c6ddf
