More than 35 families were fed this Easter break thanks to St Peter’s Church Barnsley.
St Peter’s hosted two Community Lunch projects last week in Partnership with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Central Ward Alliance as part of a pilot scheme to meet the needs of those most vulnerable in the town.
The Parish of St Peter’s the Apostle and St John the Baptist is ranked 401 out of 12,599, where 1 is the most deprived parish on the Church Urban Fund index of deprivation.
The vicar of St Peter’s, Fr Paul Cartwright said: “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to work with the Local Authority Ward Alliance, and to show local families that we are Easter People!
“Initially we had planned to offer the event to those who were in receipt of free school meals, but we didn’t want anyone to feel singled or left out and so we decided to open the event to everyone,” he added.
Most of the food was provided free of charge through kind sponsorship by Tesco’s, Domino’s Pizza and local company Sarah’s Flowers and Teas which provides affordable food to those in need all year round. The Church family of St Peters also helped offset the cost of some of the food as well as providing an army of willing volunteers.
Said Paul: “There was a great community feel and both the volunteers from St Peters and the Ward Alliance enjoyed it as much as those who were fed”.
The Parish has always been at the centre Barnsley life – from being instrumental in forming Barnsley Football Club to hosting the inaugural meeting of Barnsley Hospice.
“We were pleased to once again respond to community need by providing the opportunity for local families to come together as well as eat and play together,’ he added.
Pictured here families enjoy the Easter sunshine playing outdoors.
The pilot project was such a success that it is hoped it will become a regular occurrence during the school holidays.