Christmas dinner sorted in Exeter for some Westward residents
Westward Housing is delighted to have been able to help some of their Exeter customers benefit from the generous support of Exeter Chiefs Foundation who have worked with Exeter Food Action to provide Christmas meal vouchers and food deliveries.
This Christmas Food Parcels campaign helps provide Christmas food for vulnerable people in the Exeter area. Residents living in two of Westward’s Exeter support projects - Mortimer House and Bethany House - were included as well as more than 50 other Westward residents living across Exeter.
Some Westward colleagues went along to Exeter Food Action at Marsh Barton and packed up some food parcels in bags for life to deliver to their residents. A total of more than £2,000 worth of food and vouchers was generously gifted to Westward customers as a result.
One Exeter resident said that he had recently lost his job and was in the five week waiting period regarding universal credit. He was concerned that he wasn’t going to get any money before Christmas and was just having a conversation with his partner about how they were going to afford Christmas. He was really grateful for the help and the fact that he was now going to be able to afford Christmas dinner for his family.
Another Westward customer said, "Thank you very much. I wasn't going to bother cooking anything on the day, but I will now!”
One customer is a primary worker, supporting us all in her triage role at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and we left her food in an agreed safe place. She thanked us over the phone.
Another said she was really pleased with the food, she didn’t feel up to going to the ‘big’ shops and was worrying that she would have to do her shopping in the local convenience store where the prices are double.
Westward board member David Bird is also a trustee of the Exeter Chiefs Foundation and made the link between Westward and the Christmas Food Parcels campaign. Exeter Chiefs Foundation donated a whopping £50,000 of charitable funds to the Christmas offer; the aim being to support local vulnerable families by providing the basic ingredients of a healthy Christmas meal or the vouchers to purchase these.