The festival was very popular through the nineteenth century not least because so many of the population of the cities had only recently migrated there from the countryside.
In the twentieth century the thanks-giving has been overlaid with other significant themes: distributive justice (why some go hungry in a rich world), or God's creation and our responsibilities, or peace and justice, for example.
This year St Hilda's has decided to support
The Bay Foodbank
They would be particularly pleased to receive
- Long life milk
- Meat in gravy / chilli / curry / stew
- Assorted snacks
- Tinned meat - Pek ham, corned beef etc.
- Tinned fruit
- Sugar
- Cooking sauces
and other preserved food, nappies and baby food. And, of course, not only at harvest - the need continues through the whole of the year.
Real Voices (from the Tressell Trust some names changed)
When mental health issues hit teaching
assistant Kane, he tried to keep working but it made him more ill.
Eventually he had to leave his job.
At the same time his wife, a nurse, experienced
serious complications during her pregnancy and the couple suddenly
found themselves temporarily unable to work due to health problems.
Later Kane managed to find insecure contract
work, but Cheryl’s delayed sick pay meant that on weeks that Kane
could not get any hours of work the couple were unable to afford
food.
Kane would go without to make sure that heavily
pregnant Cheryl was able to eat, until they were referred to a
foodbank.
Kane says:
“People stereotype people at foodbanks but
both myself and my wife are professional people who needed help.
We never expected to need a foodbank, but
our lives completely changed in two months. You’re only two missed
pay cheques away from being in poverty.
Just five minutes to breathe can really make
all the difference, that’s why foodbanks are such a lifeline.”
To contact the food bank directly:
The Bay Foodbank
The Barn, Meadow Well Way, Waterville Road,
Meadow Well, North Shields, NE29 6BA
Tel: 0191 257 3820Email: thebayfoodbank@gmail.com
More information about the work of foodbanks and the need for them can be found at:
