Call for volunteers for Newbury charity Loose Ends

A charity that has been helping feed the Newbury community needs some support itself.

Loose Ends, which is based out of Newbury Cricket Club in Northcroft Lane, wants new volunteers to come forward so it can continue to serve hot meals across the week.

It currently prepares lunches on Mondays and Tuesdays, a late afternoon meal on Sundays and breakfasts on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Each sit-down meal aims to be nutritious and prepared to the highest possible standards.

The charity’s chair of trustees, Diana Lacey, said: “We are very much a local charity.

“We were founded 32 years ago with the intent of providing a meal on Sundays.

“This rapidly expanded and we are now a drop-in centre for homeless and vulnerable people, and anybody who just can’t make ends meet.”

That includes offering a hot meal on Fridays for families of school-age children.

“We have some very creative cooks who create a hot, nutritious meal from food that has been donated.

“We have a real mixture of people that come in, normally anything up to 40 people.”

Some of the people accepting the hospitality will be rough sleepers, some are living in hostels.

“They’ve got nowhere to cook a decent meal,” Ms Lacey said. “They might have somewhere to sleep, but they can’t afford to go and eat out every day.

“For those struggling to make ends meet, the proposition of a hot meal just makes a difference.”

They also hand out small food parcels to help their customers between the prepared meals.

Demand has increased due to the rising cost of living, and they want to ensure they have enough help on hand.

“It is harder to get volunteers to come and help,” Ms Lacey said. “[The number of] people donating to us is going down, there are fewer people available at the moment.”

There are cooking roles available, but they also need volunteers to help with laying tables, serving food, washing up and tidying away afterwards.

For those who prefer administration, there are some back-end roles, helping with the supply chain, collecting food from donors or delivering them.

Age should not be a barrier for helping.

“I retired a year ago and joined then,” Ms Lacey said. “I think two thirds of our volunteers are pensioners. Anybody can help.

“If we can get another half a dozen or a dozen volunteers, it would make a massive difference.”

She said there was no big commitment.

“We welcome everybody. We ask for no commitment: at the beginning of each month we ask people for availability, and we create a rota from those who are available.

“They can come along and do as much as they want to.”

The charity is expecting an influx of donations around harvest time next month, but Ms Lacey said they were able to top up its larder from its funds.

“Certainly over the last few months we’ve been spending significantly more on food rather than relying on donations,” she said.

Loose Ends welcomes donations of tinned food, including meat, fish, baked beans and vegetables, plus puddings such as custard and rice pudding, as well as packets of food such as pasta, rice and cereal.

The charity’s website, www.looseendsnewbury.org, has a page dedicated to explaining more about the need for volunteers and their requirements.

Volunteers will be asked to complete a food hygiene training course online within a year of starting to help out.

There are also sessions in first aid, behavioural management and drug awareness.