NOTICES FOR SUNDAY 19th APRIL 2020

Live Evening Prayer

We are going to experiment with a Live Evening Prayer on Facebook Live on Sunday 19th April at 5pm - you can watch Live by joining our St Francis Newcastle Communications Group on Facebook.  If it works OK we will make it available on our website so that if you're not on Facebook you can watch it at any time!

Green Reflection    by Jenny Germain

This is not so much a green tip as a summary of what we already doing. In these strange times we are all being incredibly green whether we like it or not. We are not driving our cars, going on planes, taking cruises and therefore not pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere! We are not making multiple trips to the supermarket but planning our shopping carefully either for an on-line delivery or a single trip ourselves. We are probably eating better than usual with more time to cook, stocking the freezer with home made meals rather than convenience foods. Hopefully we are taking the opportunity of hanging washing out on the line instead of pushing it into the tumble drier before dashing out to work. I would love to suggest growing our own vegetables but I am afraid it is now almost impossible to get compost and plants due to unprecedented demand but you gardeners will have been well prepared. Enjoy the birds in the garden and the added opportunity of seeing wild life such as hedgehogs and squirrels on your daily walks as they are being tempted out by the peace and quiet. Terrible though this pandemic is, we are living a decidedly greener life.

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....