ORGANISERS of a group that helps feed the community have a lot to thank a thief for.
Last week, a visitor to the Grub Club, which runs out of Norreys Church in Wokingham, stole a cash box containing donations for the food.
But a fundraising appeal to replace the lost money has been a massive success, raising hundreds of pounds more than was taken.
And the response has prompted the team behind the initiative to think about where they go from here.
Claire Revie, a member of the church in Norreys Road, explained that food is donated from supermarkets and cash and carry outlets and people can come and collect it.
The items donated can be random, with items including catering packs of cola syrup, salad dressing, packets of peanuts and even empty blue buckets. There have also been donations of short-life goods such as bread, sandwiches and fruit and vegetables.
“It is stuff that going to be binned, but it was all usable,” she explained. “People can take the items and make a donation for it, but there is no price attached to anything.
“We have this resource, lots of people are pleased it is there and it’s a low-cost option (to feed your family during lockdown).”
The theft occurred on Wednesday, May 27. A note on social media said that the church appreciated that money is tight for many, and that the donations help the Grub Club further its work within Norreys and further afield: “taking the donation box is detrimental to this work which we are all doing voluntarily”.
But from the bad came good: an appeal was launched on Facebook to replace the stolen money, which was thought to be around £100 – the average amount of daily donations given for the food on offer.
Instead, generous Wokingham people gave more than £700.
Mrs Revie said: “Sadly someone took it, we’ve no idea who did it. But I can’t complain too much – I’m blown away by the kindness of people. It’s been phenomenal.
“We’re all helping each other, the community has come back and said we want to support you.”
With the lockdown starting to ease, Mrs Revie said that the Grub Club now needs to think about its future. It is using space in Norreys Church that is only available because the church family are meeting online during lockdown and that will change.
And the entire scheme stems from a lunch club that the church ran last summer to help families who were struggling to feed their children while schools were on holiday. It is hoped to offer some kind of similar scheme this year, subject to social distancing.
“The whole intention of the Grub Club is the church showing love in a very practical way,” Mrs Revie said. “But the church will have to come back at some point.
“We want to find a way to make the Grub Club sustainable, we can’t keep it here. We need the resources to work together to meet supply and demand and we welcome suggestions for this.
“We’re looking towards doing something this summer, we’ll be having a chat among the team as to what that will look like with social distancing. It will look a little different to what we’ve previously done.”
The appeal is running until the end of June. To donate, log on to: www.facebook.com/thegrubclubwoky
