Exeter Church sees a surge to help people at Christmas in cost-of-living crisis
A church in Exeter which gives out Christmas Hampers of food to people in need, say they’ve received requests to help people earlier than EVER before running the project.
Rediscover Church in Northernhay Street, for the last 6 years have been distributing hampers of food across December to individuals, couples and families, who are struggling financially, as well as those experiencing unemployment, and others who have faced a difficult year, such as bereavement.
The church say that despite it being October, they’ve always received requests from a number of charities and schools to provide hampers to households, which shows the scale of the cost-of-living crisis hitting people in a big way across the city. This in turn creates anxiety, stress and worry in people’s lives, which during the upcoming festive season will only increase, when the kids are home for the holidays and there are more mouths to feed in the household. The increased cost of heating a home in recent years has only added to this strain on finances.
Messages sent into the church have indicated that the financial challenges of buying food – with many items increasing in price right across the board, adding significant cost to a weekly shop – is causing strain for families across the city, and help much sooner is needed to those experiencing hardships.
In previous years, the church has worked with 9 primary and secondary schools across Exeter to identify possible households who could receive a hamper, as well as charities including Home Start (working with families going through challenging times), YMCA Exeter (working with young people), households identified by Housing Officers from Livewest Housing Association as well as Exeter City Council, as well as working with GP surgeries across the city to support patients who need support at Christmas time.
The hampers which are given out, contain core items to support people through the festive season, including beans, pasta, tomatoes, tinned fruit, tins of meat, tea, coffee and cereal. The hamper also includes seasonal treats such as mince pies and chocolates to bring some joy during Christmas.
The hampers are, in a significant part, generously funded by the congregation of the church who give into this opportunity to support people across the community during Christmas.
However, with the scale of the cost-of-living crisis hitting people in a big way, the church is now reaching out for businesses across the city to consider joining them in putting together these hampers. Namely, whether they will invite their staff to contribute to the cost of the project (hampers cost £20 each), or for them to bring in food contributions which can be put into the hampers themselves. All donations will be going directly to help those who most need it during the Christmas season.
Jason Ham, Operations Coordinator for the church, said “each year we support people across the city with these Christmas Hampers bringing joy and support when people most need it. When we’ve delivered hampers to people’s doors, people have been so thankful – some don’t have virtually any food in the house because they can’t afford it, and we’ve seen many people cry at the door, so thankful that they have something to eat during the festive season. It’s only October, but already we’ve received requests to help people during Christmas which is unheard of – there really is so much need out there.
Our congregation are so generous with donating and contributing into making this project a reality. However, this year, we’re inviting businesses and people across the city to help people in this real and practical way. We can all make a difference this Christmas.”
To donate towards this appeal visit www.rediscoverchurch.com/hampers or if a business wishes to contribute food they are asked to email jason.ham@rediscoverchurch.com
