Newbury Soup Kitchen held their Christmas party Thursday feeding the homeless and vulnerable in Newbury.
NUTS, Newbury Town Strummers (16 in all) came and under a gazebo of fairy lights entertained the clients who came for a meal. Even a rendition of Elvis Presley was sung by a client which truly was magical.
Santa gave out parcels. The contents donated by Newbury Freemasons and the bags beautifully printed by Inks Personalized. A wonderful community joint initiative. Revd Gary Collins from St Johns Church Newbury helped Santa too as he does every year.
59 hot Christmas dinners were given out lovely prepared and created by Julie Cobbett, Rob Honour-Avery and a team of dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly every week to provide healthy nutritious meals to anyone who comes to the various, weekly food provision sessions.
Meryl The Charity Founder and CEO carried on tradition with a festive costume which she had made which added to the general Christmas spirit.
Newbury Soup Kitchen strives to help people by providing a broad spectrum of healthy food provision and outreach to care for those in need in Newbury and West Berkshire.
This is catered around the whole person: physically, emotionally, and socially. Spending time with people who need support, encouragement, and empathy helping to improve their situation and future. Gaining trust, building relationships which encourages a growth in confidence and enables individuals to make better life decisions.
Working to give vulnerable people in our society a voice.
It is very important to Newbury Soup Kitchen that everyone is treated with respect and kindness, treated as equals, not often experienced by many in everyday society.
Meryl Praill said, “We all love our work and are committed to strive forward to eventually open a permanent Community Support Centre in the centre of Newbury”. The volunteers are the kindest, most dedicated people you can meet. I am so honoured to have them as colleagues and friends. Every single volunteer makes such an impact on people’s lives; it is wonderful”.
