Green Tip                                                

The inside cardboard tubes in toilet rolls are great for planting out your sweet peas and other similar small plants. Pop them in the tubes then into the ground. Why buy plastic root trainers at £0.75 each?!  After all we have plenty of loo rolls!

Thanks to Brian Smith

 Coping with boredom

 If you've run out of cupboards to clean, drawers to rearrange and surfaces to wipe, Brian Cryer has sent in a tip to help with boredom!  He says everyone can draw! Our parents told us that our childhood pictures were marvellous so why can’t they be so now?  He suggests using the envelopes etc from junk mail and just drawing patterns or household or garden objects. Do it every day and we will improve!

 Easter worship on TV on Easter Day

On Easter Day at 11am on BBC1 Pope Francis delivers his annual sermon Urbi et Orbi  To the City and the World , followed at 11.25am by Easter Worship from Bangor Cathedral conducted the Very Reverend Kathy Jones.  Kathy's husband Paul of course was our vicar from 2010-2014.  The hymns are from Songs of Praise recorded at Bangor in 2018.

Update from Newcastle West Foodbank

 These are uncertain times and there is a strong likelihood that all our lives and daily routines will be affected even further by the Coronavirus outbreak. 

 Despite these circumstances Newcastle West End Foodbank will endeavour to keep our food distribution services operating where practical and safe to do so.  The people that use our services will still need food to feed their families and their numbers are likely to increase as the COVID-19 outbreak deepens within our communities and neighbourhoods.

 To maintain our services, a series of measures have been introduced as we seek to minimise the risk of exposure to the Coronavirus.   For the meantime we will maintain our usual food-parcel distribution services and adjust our opening times to make this safer and more efficient for volunteers and service users.  Sadly, this will involve the suspension of social gatherings on site, ceasing hot meals, cooking classes and face to face advocacy, to focus on getting food-parcels to those unable to afford to buy it.

 Operations at our Foodbank follow NHS and Trussell Trust recommendations and comply with the latest government guidance on the Coronavirus situation. These include social distancing, PPE use, regular hand washing and the uses of hand-sanitisers.  This admirable work is only possible by the enduring commitment of our volunteers and their compassion to help others and keep them safe in their time of need.

 To donate go to:   www.newcastlewestend.foodbank....