Mutual Aid Food Willesden Newsletter #4
Updated: May 25, 2020
19th May 2020 / VOL 4
Dear Neighbour,
We hope you've had a great week 😊
As always, last week was another busy one:
Packed and delivered food and essential aid to 151 local households, supporting 425 people (including 152 children) within our community
In total since lockdown began we have sent aid to over 865 households
Please continue to support us so we can keep feeding local families in need during this lockdown. If you know anyone in need of support, please do send them our way. #LondonTogether #BrentTogether
Donate NowHugely generous donation from Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara in SloughBeautiful donation of a big bag of baby clothes from a generous local residentBrilliant donation of books and games with huge thanks to Councillor Lia Colacicco and Friends of Cricklewood Library. Thank you for helping us to both educate and entertain children at this time!
Our partnership with Ashford Place
From the 1st week of the lockdown, Mutual Aid Food Willesden has providedclients in need from Ashford Place with food parcels.
On Monday 25 May 2020, Danny Maher, the CEO of Ashford Place, will run a fundraising marathon through all the wards where Mutual Aid Food Willesden is supporting households and people in need. All proceeds will be donated to Mutual Aid Food Willesden. We're so grateful to you, Danny!
Here’s Danny himself, one of our local heroes, to tell you more about Ashford Place. What does Ashford Place do locally?
“Ashford Place supports people in the community, including the homeless and those with mental health issues, as well as providing a base for community activities like the choir in Cricklewood for the last 25 years.”
Why are we providing food aid?
“In the first week of lockdown we were trying to manically set up something to support residents and with so many Mutual Aid associations popping up all over Brent, Tariq Dar was a god-send and introduced us to the food hub and Mutual Aid Food Willesden supporting it.Mutual Aid Food Willesden is providing clients in need from Ashford Place with food parcels and connecting with them on the doorstep when we deliver, whilst social distancing. Sometimes our staff deliver the food boxes and sometimes it is Mutual Aid volunteers. We've started 'tea on the doorstep' - the staff or volunteer arrives with a flask of tea at the garden gate. Residents then drink their cuppa on their doorstep which brings a hint of normality.
How do you feel about the local food aid service?
“Mutual Aid Food Willesden is a vital link for our connections with our clients in the area. We at Ashford Place have the clients, Tariq Dar has space for the food hub and Mutual Aid has the volunteers. It was really positive that Tariq suggested it at the beginning. It got us over that crucial first stage of lockdown.”
Update - #FeedTheCommuniTREE
Thank you so much to everyone who has been designing their own CommuniTREEs and making donations to help us grow! We have loved seeing all your beautiful creations 👏🌳🙏
You can still download our CommuniTREE template fromFacebook,InstagramorTwitter so if you haven’t created your own yet, give it a go today. Design your own CommuniTREE, put it in your window, show your support and make a donation to help us grow.
This week we are featuring these works of art from Freddie aged 6 and Ellie aged 7. We love Ellie's Matisse-like design and the little bird living in Freddie's tree. Thanks so much and excellent work, you guys! 👌🌳🐥
We also received this beautiful tree from one of the residents at Ashford Place. We're loving the leaves and sparkly spiral patterns, and the detail on the trunk.
Keep them coming, everyone!
🌳🎨✨ Donate Now
Bringing the CommuniTREE to life
Don't foregt that for every CommuniTREE shared with us and donation made towards our #FeedTheCommuniTREE campaign, we will plant a REAL tree at the PCC where our emergency food distribution hub is currently based. The bigger the donation, the more trees planted! 🌲🌳🌿
*We Need Volunteers*
We're also looking for volunteers to help us plant the trees - whether you're a keen gardener, looking to do some exercise, a family looking for a fun activity to do on the weekend or just to give back to the community, we'd love to hear from you!
Please get in touch to book a time slot to come down to the PCC and help us put the green back into Willesden Green.
EmailMutualAidFoodWillesden@gmail.com, call Ruthie on 07919 895 709 orreach us on Messenger here.
Help bring the CommuniTREE to life and provide vital emergency aid for your local community.Donate Now
Success stories
Daniels Estate Agents provided us with 100 bags for life this week. These will come in so handy for delivering the food parcels. A huge thank you!We also received these delicious Zaban pastries from Massoud and Setareh Moini from Kalleh Ltd, as well as herbs, spices and other goodies. Thank you so much!We want to say a big thank you to the Greggs Foundation who have honoured our request for emergency funding and awarded MAFW with a £500 grant. We are so grateful! 💕🙌The other day Danny from Ashford Place rang one of their carers who also volunteered mentoring other carers in the dementia program. Sadly, she became a widow 3-4 weeks ago. As she put it, “Her husband had gone away.”
Even though she has family, she felt that the world had forgotten, even though her husband had been such a big character. Receiving a signed digital sympathy card from all the staff and volunteers, and the regular MAFW phone contact, helped her feel like she was a part of the world and it helped her to grieve.❤️🙏
Heartfelt thanks
We are humbled to receive messages from those we can help at this time. Without your help, we could not continue to support people from Ashford Place. Please do continue to support our community in need during this tough time. “It’s heartening to see how emotional people are to see you drive up and drop off the food parcel. It’s the added value from the human contact which really does make a huge difference to their mental health. Otherwise they don’t see anyone.
It’s really so beneficial on their mental health, and we really want to let the Mutual Aid Food Willesden volunteers know that.”
Danny, describing the impact on those from Ashford Place
Help us today
Monetary Donation -please donate whatever you can. Every penny counts!Donate NowFood Donation:Drop off at the Community Centre any time or via a drop off point advertised in your local ward. Leave outside the centre if no one is there.
Get in touch:Feel free to email or call us.
EMAIL:MutualAidFoodWillesden@gmail.com
TEL: 020 8050 2867
https://mailchi.mp/e9032ae50fdf/mutual-aid-food-willesden-newsletter-vol-4?e=92b15ab767