They have the food, they have the volunteers – now they just need the diners.
A new lunch club offering free hot meals to children and parents during the school holidays has opened at St Margaret’s Church in Wincobank, Sheffield.
The problem is not many people know it is there and volunteers are now trying to spread the word to boost attendance.
The club was started by Melvyn and Carolyn Newton to coincide with the school holidays, but they have not had many chances to publicise it as they have just become foster parents.
Melvyn, 65, used to run lunch clubs when he lived in Manchester and when the couple moved to Wincobank, he was keen to set one up.
“Feeding people has always been my passion, I’ve done it on streets and I’ve done it in church halls.
“I worked for the charity Food Works doing van deliveries and I was itching to get this going. We have an amazing team, a great kitchen but no customers at the moment.
“It’s called junk food cooking – you go and beg for free stuff that people are throwing away and you make a meal out of it.
“Food Works are good and some of the best places are Asian supermarkets, they have always been generous.
“There’s no point having generous shopkeepers though if we haven’t got people to feed.”
