The streets of York were packed on Sunday (December 17) with shoppers scrambling to finish off Christmas lists and others celebrating the festivities early with a drink or two.
But in a quiet corner of King’s Manor Garden, next to York Art Gallery, the team at Hoping Street Kitchen were busy making sure homeless people and those in need didn’t go without a Christmas meal.
It was a clear day, but Hoping trustee Jayne Venables said if there had been a blizzard they would have still been there – as they are every Sunday from 2.30pm to 4pm dishing out grub for free.
The team is run by volunteers who Jayne explained normally bring big pots of food with them that they’ve spent most of their weekend making.
They usually arrive and heat their pots up on gas burners.
But on Sunday they had the added challenge of serving a roast. This couldn’t be heated up so had to be taken out of home ovens as late as possible, wrapped in foil, and brought along to serve.
Some of the ingredients were donated by York commercial waste company Business Waste.
The firm had its Christmas meal at the Principal hotel but found themselves short of the number of heads needed to make up the minimum order for meals, explained Jayne.
But they went ahead anyway, paid the full price, and donated the raw ingredients for the meals they wouldn’t need to Hoping to use for its Christmas dinners instead.
Mark Hall, co-founder of Business Waste, said it was “heartbreaking” to see how much food goes to waste – especially during the holidays – while “thousands of people are struggling to feed themselves or their loved ones”.
He said the firm was “pleased” to help Hoping.
“We encourage other organisations to consider supporting charitable organisations like them too, particularly during this time of the year when food waste tends to be at its peak,” Mark added.
The Press called by King’s Manor Garden at 2.30pm and there was already a queue of people waiting for a Christmas dinner.
“It’s been busy,” Jayne said at the time.
“They love it – they’re used to a high standard, we’ve got a five-star food hygiene rating.”
One service user collected his dinner and said: “I’m looking forward to getting a bit of food in the fridge.”
He added that everyone there is “respectful to the staff” for what they do to help.
Read next: Ways to help the homeless in York this winter
Another hailed the “enthusiast home cooks” (as Jayne described them) as the “best cooks there are in York”.
“All the people here are amazing,” he said.
“They look after the whole community – they volunteer and are just the best.
“We are lucky to have volunteers like these looking after us, otherwise there would be a lot more hungry people on the streets.”
Candi Colburn and Maureen Haith from Bookcase for All manned a stall beside where the food was served.
They are also in King’s Manor Square most Sundays, giving homeless people books that they can keep or choose to return free of charge.
Candi explained how books provide a talking point for the people who visit their stall.
“If people have time on their hands they like to read,” she said.
“They can keep them if they want – it’s up to them.”
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