A friend of mine started a facebook group a couple of days ago, aimed at those of us who fear that the new tory government will mean more suffering for those most in need.  The idea being that rather than just moaning about how unfair it all is we’d try and do what we could to provide mutual support.  I think this is a brilliant way of looking at the situation – practical help and emotional support can make a real difference to those who need them, and lets face it that could be any of us.

This time last year I had a nice full time office job that I knew I was good at and that felt ‘safe’ – now I think it’s unlikely that I will ever work full time again.

Anyway, one of the things I decided to do as a way of making a little bit of a difference was to volunteer with the local food bank.  There’s one run from the church in Ramsey that’s part of the Trussel Trust.  I found their website and tried emailing them but the email bounced so when I went to the craft course this morning I thought I’d call in.  The website said to ask at the cafe in the indoor market – only when I got there they told me that was no longer the case so I went down to the church where the food bank was actually in session.

I had a chat and gave my details and it all looked to be going ok until they started talking about “Revive” which is a prayer group which also serves food.  I said that wasn’t for me as I am not a Christian and just wanted to help with the foodbank.  And at that point I was told that I couldn’t be a volunteer as it was a church thing only.

If that’s their attitude to potential volunteers what on earth are they like with non Christians who need help?  That’s over 40% of the population if we match up to the national average.  We probably don’t match up given how ‘middle England’ Ramsey is but I know there are pagans and buddhists and muslims in the area at least.