UP FRONT : IN FOCUS
Andrew Mcleay , Councillor Julian Bell and volunteers Jen Wadcote and Alan Simpson
In April , Ealing Soup Kitchen , which is based primarily at St John ’ s Church in Mattock Lane , will mark a year of its Ealing Evening Hub being open on Mondays to the homeless . And , to celebrate , it is holding a fundraising evening with a celebrity twist .
A postcard from home ( less )
It will be holding an auction on 16 March , at the Salvation Army hall in Leeland Road , West Ealing .
Andrew Mcleay , homelessness worker at the soup kitchen , sent blank postcards to an array of celebrities and asked them to draw a picture on it and sign the reverse side . He did the same among the homeless clients at St John ’ s . Among the many celebrities to help out were : Judi Dench , Jessie J , Alan Shearer and Jerome Flynn .
The idea is that everyone who attends the auction will pay the same price – and will each receive a postcard picked out randomly . “ They could get a homeless person ’ s card or they could get Judi Dench ’ s ,” said Andrew . “ The
idea being that no one is worth more than anyone else .”
It will be a year in April that the charity ’ s Monday hub was set up , where homeless people can drop-in to the Salvation Army hall between 7-9pm for food and drink , to play games , or just relax or talk . It also offers practical advice and help such as clothing – and even provides haircuts .
The charity already ran a ‘ hub ’ service on Friday afternoon each week at St John ’ s Church and had done so for more than a decade , and it opens on Saturdays and Sundays too as a soup kitchen – which it has done since 1973 . It is funded by a group of 10 local churches , including St John ’ s , called Ealing Churches . If necessary , Ealing Council refers homeless people to Ealing Soup Kitchen and council leader Julian Bell paid it a visit recently . He said : “ Being homeless is a stressful and unpleasant thing to experience and the council ’ s priority is to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place . The council has trained staff , and access to outside experts , who will help find a way to help . And , indeed , more people than ever before have been turning to the council for help with housing . But sometimes people choose not to go through the system for whatever reason , or the council might not be able to help them , and in those circumstances charities like Ealing Soup Kitchen , Acton Homeless Concern and St Mungo ’ s are invaluable . The work they do benefits the community as a whole – not just those it feeds , listens to and provides shelter for .” Read the full story and watch a video – at ealingnewsextra . co . uk / features / homeless
Mayor of Ealing , Councillor Dr Patricia Walker , chose Acton Homeless Concern as her official charity during her year in office . She has been fundraising and also ran an appeal for donations of clothing before Christmas . Visit actonhomelessconcern . org
10 around ealing Spring 2017