Well summer seems to have suddenly arrived! But here at Feed a Friend we are aware that not everyone can get out and about in the good weather, that’s why we’re making hay whilst the sun shines, as they say, and busily matching up diners and volunteers. So please do get your forms back to us and we can get you matched up pronto. It’s perhaps not the weather for a cosy cuppa, but maybe now is the time to dabble in some iced tea recipes, or some summery strawberry tarts. Don’t worry if you’re more culinary catastrophe than star baker – we have registered kitchens where you can collect your baked goods and keep an eye on our Facebook page for some upcoming simple seasonal recipes. Our diners might be mostly stuck indoors, but maybe by volunteering with Feed a Friend you can bring a ray of sunshine into somebody’s life this month!
Author: Jos
New partnersips
We had a fantastic meeting last week with St Luke’s in Emmer Green who are keen to work with us going forward. Meeting the staff at the home was a great experience but also I think our volunteers will learn a lot and get a lot of enjoyment. The staff have a wealth of experience and are willing to share it with us.
We have talked about the initial steps about getting volunteers in there and also some ideas for long term training potentially. Hopefully this is the start of working with great organisation like this.
Half Marathon Fundraising
Well, the day of the half marathon dawned bright and sunny! We were incredibly lucky with the weather, if anything it was too hot (spoken by a true Scot…) I completed the run in 2:14:41 (I must be a real runner now; I remember my time to the nearest second!) The grand total raised was £550 – so a massive thank you to everyone who donated – we can’t emphasise enough how much we appreciate your generosity. The money raised will be used to fund DBS checks for all our volunteers.
We are now entering into a really exciting new phase of FaF… Over the past few days, we have been advertising locally (mainly on social media) for potential volunteers and diners. The response has been overwhelming! We are currently getting in touch with everyone (please bear with us!) and attempting to answer everyone’s questions. We’ll be sending out emails to everyone who has provided an email address so please keep checking for news (might be best to check ‘junk’ folders too, as the emails will be coming from a new address). We will also send an invitation to our Facebook group to anyone who has expressed an interest in FaF.
Until next time,
Cath and Jos x
FAF – Fundraising
With only 11 days to go until the half marathon, we’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed for sunshine… Everyone is being really generous and sponsorship now stands at over £200 – enough to pay for 11 of our fantastic volunteers to go through their DBS checks! Thank you so much to everyone who has pledged money – we really appreciate it (as will the ‘diners’ who will soon benefit from our volunteers’ visits). If you would like to donate to the cause and help provide company and cake for people in your neighbourhood, then you can do so here: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/catherine-bruce?utm_campaign=20160323_54695&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget
It’s a great way of supporting Feed a Friend if you don’t have time to spare to volunteer with us. Help us to hit the £300 mark! Thanks again, Jos and Cath x
FaF – 7th March 2016
So, what’s the latest FAF news on this cold but sunny morning? Well, we’re currently moving into the exciting second phase of our pilot study which means we’re looking for new volunteers and new diners! If you’d like to volunteer or if you know someone who could benefit from a visit (or even if you’d like to ask us any questions that aren’t covered in our FAQ section) please do get in touch – you can find our contact details by clicking on the link. At present, we are hoping to recruit ten more diners and ten more volunteers. It really doesn’t matter if you’re not a master chef – check out our Facebook page for easy recipes or simply pick up something from Mr Kipling on your way to visit your diner! We currently have a couple of kitchen’s registered with the council and are looking at the possibility of batch-cooking, too.
If you’re still undecided, check out our endorsements section. You’ll see what Vicky, one of our first volunteers, has to say about her experiences of visiting the diner Feed a Friend matched her with at the end of last year.
In addition to volunteers, we are also on the lookout for funding… In four weeks time, I am running the Reading half marathon with the aim of raising enough sponsorship to pay for those all-important DBS checks which all our volunteers must pass before making their first diner visits. I’m busy training at the moment and keep having to remind myself (mostly when getting out of bed at 6am to go for a training run in the cold!) that there are loads of local people who would love to be able to get outside a little bit more, and go for a walk or a run and a catch up with a friend – these are the people that Feed A Friend is aiming to make contact with. Some people can’t get out and about as much as they would perhaps like, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t share a regular cake and a chat with a friendly FAF volunteer!
Until next time,
Cath and Jos x