It's been a manic week! Donations to the Swindon Foodbank have been through the roof! My last count was 6 tons, but that was before Friday's lot arrived! It's lovely to see so many donations at a time when people are struggling. It shows community spirit is still alive.
I had the pleasure of going to Red Oaks Primary in Swindon yesterday. It's an amazing school. At their assembly, they had a teacher doing sign language and every time someone went to the front to speak they had to wear a microphone for those wearing hearing aids. They also had a severely disabled child whose class was organising a fundraiser for!
Sadly as a dyslexic I've seen many schools that exclude children for the most simple disability. Red Oaks couldn't be further from that. Every child was made to feel welcome and included. It was lovely to see and the children and teachers all seemed very happy and welcoming.
The head asked us if the children could help us pack up at the end. Of course, we said yes! The kids were amazing! They're part of the schools 'Charity Club'. They'd set up the tables and food for the assembly and at the end they took all the food and packed it into the crates, then they carried it out to the van. It was their break time, but that didn't bother them, they wanted to help us.
They also asked me questions about the food they'd given, was it ok they gave pasta sauce, would the items be of use, what could they do for us in the future. It was truly wonderful to hear them so interested. It made it clear this was something they felt passionately about and they weren't going it because the teachers told them to.
One thing I learned from Amy's talk at Red Oaks was that last year Swindon Foodbank fed 6,000 people. That doesn't sound like much until you realise there's only 185,609 in Swindon. That means that 1 in 30 residents had been in need in the last year. In Red Oaks there are 550 students, so in that school alone 18 children could have used the Foodbank. Look at it like that and the numbers are scary.
Speaking of numbers you think that 6 tons is a lot of food. That is only enough for 3000 families. So half of what's needed. Take away from that any food that's out of date, opened, damaged or not on the list of food given away and it drops even more. Now you see why donations are so important and why the work done by Andrew, Amy and the volunteers at Swindon Foodbank is so important.
On a lighter note, I'm going to see an old mate today. Time for a chat and a catch-up! Might go to the pub we used to go to in college a very long time ago! (No I'm not saying how may years! It's too many to think of!)
I'll leave you with the line Amy used at the end of the assembly. I think it's perfect and something we should all do;
'When you sit down for dinner tonight, think of those less fortunate who could be going without'
