This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, community grocery manager Carolyn Aitken tells us why working with people who rely on the groceries has been such an uplifting experience. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help.
When I took on the role of community grocery manager a year ago, I had never imagined what a privilege it would be.
That I would meet some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known, that this would be a role in which I would see such a broad spectrum of life and experience such a wide range of emotions, often all in one day.
From the heart-breaking revelation of a recently widowed wife or a bereaved parent, to the overwhelming kindness and generosity of a young couple who have given up their weekly takeaway to buy food to help others.
From the dad with a family to support, who lost everything including his home and business during the pandemic, or the beautiful young mother fighting long covid whilst caring for a newborn, to a group of elderly residents in shared accommodation giving a jar or packet or tin each week to help us to fill our shelves.
Volunteers who daily go above and beyond, collecting food from supermarkets late at night in all weathers or early mornings before most of us are awake, or who give up mornings or afternoons week after week to restock shelves and ensure everything’s displayed beautifully or to run the stores or cafes, always with a caring smile and a kind word for each customer.
We all wish we weren’t needed – everyone who plays a part in the life of Resurrected Bites agrees that there shouldn’t be the food waste that we collect each week – that we are a society that wilfully throws away perfectly good produce, because it’s not quite the right shape or size or has just passed its best, or there’s just been too much produced, and that such waste is wrong.
We agree that community groceries and foodbanks shouldn’t be needed in the UK in 2022, but we are moved by the needs of so many and so we try to make life just a little better for those in our community who are struggling.
Read more:
- Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: Ukrainian refugees relying on Resurrected Bites for food in Knaresborough
- Where would you turn if you couldn’t afford to feed your family?
Every day we wish we could do more – we can signpost our customers to other agencies and organisations who may also be able to help, with needs such as debt management, fuel vouchers, benefits advice or simply where to access clothes or furniture, but our hope is that one day, it won’t be like this.
That is the hope of our founder and director Michelle, who tirelessly works long hours, securing grants, arranging fundraisers, co-ordinating a plethora of supporters and volunteers, juggling a small team running the cafes, the community groceries, the pay-as-you-can tables and the warehouse. Resurrected Bites was her vision, one that was so inspirational that it has been caught by the communities of Harrogate and Knaresborough and grown into the amazing work it is today.
And it’s that word ‘community’ that shines out of all that we do and all that we’re a part of. Our tiny, beautiful corner of Yorkshire is incredibly community focused, people have told me that’s why they moved here to live.
As a community they care for one another, and as a community, it will be our privilege to continue to care for them, while we can.
Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas.
It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it.
Click here to contribute now. Thank you.