In December 2024, the Mersey Valley Group identified several foodbanks to be supported via a grant. Lodges and chapters in the five halls in the group nominated a variety of foodbanks to each receive £1,000. Funnily enough, only two of them carry the title foodbank in their names.
The first cheque donation given by Steve McNee, a member of Hale Lodge of Fellowship No 3799, being the St Helens Foodbank, which is run through the Hope Centre based in Atherton Street, St Helens. The second one was the South Liverpool Foodbank, based in Garston, Liverpool. Both foodbanks offer support to the local residents and are widely supported with administration being carried out via the Trussel Trust, following government guidelines. The trust is a huge organisation and supports residents throughout the land via many local outlets.
A third donation of £1,000 was made to St Michael’s and St Thomas’s Church in Widnes. The foodbank run by this church is well known to all Widnes Masons, many of whom have made personal donations in recent times. Reverand Linda was presented with the cheque which will help local people to endure through these hard times. Linda is very grateful for the support of our brethren and acknowledged the great work we do, especially as it is not widely publicised.
Another cheque for £1,000 was presented to Paul Robinson MBE of the Breckfield Centre based in Everton, Liverpool (Hurrah, say all the blue noses!). Whilst also operating a foodbank the centre offers many support services to local residents of both blue and red persuasion and is well worth looking and can be found by clicking here.
The final donation was made to the Message Trust in Warrington. It is not widely known that foodbanks can only be accessed a small number of times per month so what do local residents do after that? This is where the Message Trust step in. They operate a community grocery store within the region. Community groceries are all about bridging the gap between supermarkets and foodbanks. Using surplus food fresh from local supermarkets, the groceries make the cost of the weekly shop more affordable.
Members of the Message Trust can come and shop for just £5, saving up to £20 per shop getting all the food they need for their family. The trust has opened over 20 more groceries around the UK and are now helping make sure over 61,275 families can put food on the table. And by doing this, they’ve also helped save over 5,925 tonnes of surplus food from going to waste!
All in all, five worthy causes have been identified by the brethren of the Mersey Valley Group of Lodges and Chapters to receive our support for their on-going support to their local communities.
Steve McNee, Mersey Valley Group Charity Steward.