07/08/2024 0 Comments

Christ Church's role during COVID-19

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Published by Tom Pyke on Saturday, 2 May 2020 14:23

Christ Church's role during COVID-19

The military strategist Helmuth von Moltke is famously quoted as saying 'no plan survives contact with the enemy'. The early moments of COVID-19 in London certainly proved that true. Those last days before lockdown were confusing, and the rate of change was rapid. We went from a situation where everyone who ran our Island Gardens Foodbank pledged to carry on regardless, to within days realising that that couldn't happen - our volunteers were often people with underlying health issues, and in any case the model of the foodbank that we were used to 'Come, meet, take away' was a dangerous model if we were going to do our bit to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Yet it was obvious that food was going to be a problem and foodbanks would be of value for the community. In the immediate moment of lockdown, when supermarket shelves had been stripped, many people would need their foodbank's help, even if they had never needed that help before. Josie Godfrey, our Stepney Ministry Intern, in a far-sighted moment, prepared 40 parcels of food that we could draw on. It was the first plank of our response. On the first Tuesday after the church was closed to the public I had to meet our usual clientele and tell them to wait; we might need to prioritise the shielded and the self-isolating over them when handing out the meagre amount of resources we could lay hands on. We would know where the need was from calls to a central number which had been widely advertised.

I'm glad to say that that situation - of not much to give out- didn't last long. Old friends rallied round and realised how important Christ Church could be in making sure that everyone who needed it had access to food, and also that food locally was not going to waste. Denise from the New Kwun Wah donated the contents of her potato store and Paul Wilson from East End Homes (more of him later) brought us mushrooms and 360 eggs. Our first call was a large household who were self-isolating after suspected symptoms. We could offer them much, but they could make some marvellous mushroom omelettes! Through the chain of mutal aid groups that had been quickly set up we were put in touch with Limehouse Aid who had plans to Food arriving from City Harvest, with driver Rakan and East End Homes' Paul Wilson

create at scale food distribution centres across our bit of the borough, to provide whatever equipment might be needed, to create relationships with producers and suppliers and to arrange drops of food from City Harvest, a charity re-purposing surplus food. Our first delivery from City Harvest set the bar high - punnets of fresh raspberries and a tray of avocados among other foods; I realised that if we got this right we could ensure that the food resilience and health of our community in this difficult time could actually be improved over what we usually put up with in ordinary times (fruit and veg in sealed bags from supermarkets, over-packaged and increasingly expensive).

Since then our food distribution hub has grown in scale and in what it can offer. The Crypt is now a small warehouse, equipped with racking, two large fridges (one a professional catering fridge which is cavernous), a small deep freeze and tables laid out for selecting and packing our typical 10Kg parcels of food. The crypt is the ideal space, since the kitchen provides hot water and handwashing facilities, it is well ventilated and well-lit, and can be kept consistently cold. Using local volunteers and a WhatsApp group we are delivering food to families and to individuals. We are also resourcing local groups taking food out to homes and schools that are supporting their vulnerable families. We have returned to the list of our loyal clientele from before COVID-19 became a problem, and we've been able to give them fresh fruit and veg too (something we could never do as the weekly foodbank, though I always wanted to). I want to say 'thank you' to them for bearing with me in the first week to ten days. They accepted, for the most part, that they were not the priority, and they put up with that stoically and cheerfully.

What of the future? Those who are contributing to the partnership are clear that food is going to be an issue as we recover economically from this situation, and that might mean that the crypt is used as a distribution hub for the next 9 months. Paul Wilson and I are hatching plans for a food box club once the current crisis is over - it is clear that we can rethink how food is made available in lower income areas, and that allowing everyone to benefit when there is over-supply, or food is about to be scrapped makes a great deal of sense. In the meantime my days are busily spent receiving and sending out supplies of food. I always say to myself that no experience is ever wasted, but I never expected that my time as a 14 year old as a Saturday boy at the local Spar in Cardiff, or as a warehouseman for John Lewis in Cambridge during the university holidays would ever be of use again. I could not have foreseen this, but I am enjoying the way that Christ Church is seen as solving problems as soon as they arise, offering practical help to those who need it most.

None of this would be possible without our friends who have helped, Joey and Richard, Ali and Maium, St Luke's Millwall, City Harvest, Fareshare, Holy Trinity Brompton, The Tower Hamlets Adventure Base, Canary Wharf Group, East End Homes, Affy, Carla Marie, Rakan, Dan, Saijal, Janet and Laura. Thank you to all of them.

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