We had a wonderful visit from the Ash Vale Brownies this week! They were working towards one of their badges by learning about the foodbank and making a difference in their communtiy. They learned what goes into a food parcel, how a foodbank works, and they even went shopping to practice some savvy shopping and made their pennies stretch to a lovely crate full of donations! When they got back they created a super banner for the next foodbank bottle tombola fundraiser. Huge thanks to the girls and their lovely leaders and families. We hope to welcome you again soon and see you at the village Summer Fair!
Would you like to visit the Foodbank with your childrens group? We love to welcome young people to find out what we are all about, have some fun and make a real difference! Give our Project Manager a call on 07730 609446 if you would like to find out more.
Our lovely young Foodbank volunteers are a brilliant team. They come and help take in the foodbank stock on Thursday evenings, sort donations, bag up laundry pods and check the fridges. This week, they spent some of their foodbank time on these beautiful donations boxes for our foyer at St Mary’s and some more for The Chapel. Let’s encourage them and fill them up!
We have booked a double stall at the Ash Village Fair on the 28th June. Revd Neil will be doing his legendary pancakes and the Foodbank team are planning a bottle tombola. Can you spare a bottle and pop it in one of the donations boxes please?
Every item donated will go to help the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project, (https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/ ) either in a food parcel, or on the bottle tombola to raise funds for food and toiletries. Thank you for your support!
With the whole world groaning under the strain of coronavirus , on top of climate change and other issues, it feels right to make every penny of our Christmas spending really count this year. Here are some ideas!
Buy local—it goes without saying, our lovely local shops and entrepreneurs need us more than ever this year! The big chains have big reserves, small businesses do not. So when you’re browsing, please start with local shops and local online sellers first. Give a voucher, buy a gift, book a treatment… supporting them now means they will still be here in 2021, what a splendid gift!
Donate for Christmas Hampers—Our local Covid Support group are partnering with St Mary’s doing food parcels, and this Christmas they will also be delivering hampers to local people in need. Keep an eye out for the special offers and see what you can donate! Donations needed by Sunday 13th Dec please. You can also donate online via give a little. Thank you https://givealittle.co/campaigns/7a47190c-ad4e-4cf9-8662-da844101a41c
Give a Christmas Tree in Uganda!
St Mary’s works closely with the charity Amaha We Uganda, supporting our brothers and sisters there to sow seeds of hope, helping people to lift themselves out of poverty.
One of the big problems lately has been soil erosion. It has wiped out crops, destroyed homes and obliterated livelihoods. Re-foresting is crucial and so the AWU team are very busy setting up tree nurseries! Did you sponsor a tree last year—it’s now growing in Uganda! Please support this amazing work and why not ‘buy a tree’ in Uganda for a loved one as a present? We will send you a Gift Certificate by email that you can personalise and email (or print and post) to give to your loved ones. Donate online and simply email alex@amahaweuganda with your donation reference for your certificate.
