FOOD BANK GRANTHAM - LAUNCH Friday 1st July 2011 - Good Food - What Society?

Friday evening I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Food Bank - Grantham. It was an amazing and moving event. I think that apart from some special moments of unity at Labour Party Conference, I have never before felt such a strong sense of unity and shared purpose. Everyone (or nearly everyone) there wants to help fellow human being in need. I will be writing more about the work of Food Bank shortly. It is to be located adjacent to the old China 88 restaurant which has been taken over by Jubilee Church and is being transformed into another place where people who have slipped through the net can find help.

I plan to be engaged with both organisations. To me, helping our most vulnerable is what the Labour Party should be about. I have mixed emotions that we have the need for either venue in Grantham. To me, their presence is a wonderful sign of how people can come together in a community if the need is there. It is also, however, a sign of failure of our Government, that at a time when some people are walking away with incomes now in excess of £1bn a year, we state we cannot afford to help those most in need.