Longfield Community Hospice is celebrating Hospice Care Week, which runs from 5th October- 11th October, by joining forces with The Long Table to ensure those in need, have access to good quality and nutritious food.
During the height of the pandemic The Long Table delivered over forty thousand free meals across the community and have now developed the ‘Freezer of Love’ where by people can access freshly cooked meals, prepared from food that has been donated or otherwise may have been wasted. Longfield Hospice and The Long Table are on a mission to help provide the families and carers who come into contact with the hospice with easy, healthy and tasty food.
Head of Fundraising and Marketing, Rachel Jones said:
“We know that there are times when our carers and families don’t have time to cook as they are busy looking after others or perhaps times when some of our families have been recently bereaved and food is the last thing on their mind. For us to be able to surprise our families and carers with the delicious food that the team at The Long Table have prepared, is going to be invaluable.”
Tom Herbert, Director of The Long Table, added:
“We are looking forward to working with Longfield and really value the service they provide. As a team we are passionate about ensuring access to good food for everyone that needs it – and ideally someone to eat it with. Often people associate the giving of food as being restricted to homelessness or for those that are struggling financially, but there are many reasons why we should use food to reach out to those in our community. There could be many causes as to why someone is struggling to prepare and eat nutritious food and we are keen to get to as many of those people as possible. We are proud to be working alongside Longfield Hospice to deliver quality food to those that are going through a difficult time.”
Meals will be delivered to families and carers by the Hospice at Home Team during their visits to patients’ homes or by volunteers. This special delivery of prepared meals, is being trialled during Hospice Care Week which has a theme this year of “This is What it Takes” making it even more appropriate for these two great local organisations to bring their respective skills together to help as many people as possible.
Before the latest regulations around Covid-19 came into force the plan was for Longfield to host lunches for both carers and the bereaved at The Long Table, in the hope of bringing like-minded people together over the gift of food and being able to offer support. This is on hold for the moment, but as soon as it is possible to resume the plans safely the two organisations will be extending invitations and delivering more exciting projects within the community.