Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Waste not, want not campaign

March 06 2012
If the thought of good food being chucked out annoys you, get involved

 

The Coventry Telegraph has launched a campaign in response to the rising numbers of vulnerable people in Coventry. The newspaper is urging shops, businesses and organisations to donate food they would otherwise throw away to the hundreds of families who cannot afford to eat.

The campaign highlights the importance of initiatives such as the weekly soup kitchen run by volunteers from city charity Anesis, with support from others like the Salvation Army. The soup kitchen aims to make contact with and feed some of the most hard-to-reach people in the area. Sainsbury’s was the first organisation to get on board with the campaign, donating food to the soup kitchen, which feeds nearly 200 people under the ring road next to Lady Herbert’s Garden between 2.30pm and 4.30pm every Sunday.

With desperate families turning up hoping for a decent meal, the charity has recently seen a huge increase in the numbers of people attending the soup kitchen. The overwhelming figures emerge as jobs disappear and public sector cuts strip away vital services for those living under the poverty line.

The campaign’s success is championed by the life-changing stories that emerge from the hard work of the volunteers. Mark Ring was a violent drug dealer who could see only two paths for his future: “I knew the way I was going, I was either going to end up on a life sentence, or dead”.

His life turned around hen a friend from rehab introduced him to soup kitchen organiser, Kervin Julien. After a successful first meeting, Mark began volunteering every Sunday at the soup kitchen. Giving something back was the greatest reward for Mark, who now works giving CV advice to young people with criminal convictions and helping them back into employment.

“I’ve had a taste of this life now and I will never go back,” he explained. “I’ve had to change my playground and my playmates to do this... they’re just shocked and can’t believe it. But it’s good that people can see that kind of change”.

If you’d like to get involved in the campaign, call Kervin Julien on 077963 65615. You can also keep up-to-date on Twitter by following @CovTel_WasteNot or by liking the campaign on Facebook.

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