Soup kitchen gets top royal accolade
Brian wins BEM for lockdown delivery heroics
ASOUP kitchen has received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a local voluntary group can given in the UK.
The Soup Kitchen Rochdale, based in Champness Hall on Drake Street, is made up of a team of approximately 52 volunteers who collect donations, deliver bags of food and serve homemade food.
Currently they provide 300 bags of supplies a week, which includes vegetarian meals and bags of ingredients for those who may have no or little access to cooking facilities.
Marilyn Jones and Vida Slater founded the group eightand-a-half years ago after recognising a need to help homeless people in the borough.
They initially started by serving soup from the boot of a car in front of Rochdale Town Hall, and after demand steadily increased, moved into St Chad’s Church for years - before finally settling in Champness Hall.
In a statement Marilyn and Vida said: “We are absolutely delighted that the hard work that all our volunteers have put in for many years has been recognised in this way.
“It is testament to the many hours they have worked tirelessly collecting the donations, storing, organising and preparing the parcels ready for collection.
“We are extremely grateful for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in granting our soup kitchen this award, it means the world to every single one of us.”
Before moving into Champness Hall five years ago, the group had to undertake extensive refurbishment including installing a kitchen, dining room, serving kitchen, bathroom, doctor’s room and office for clients to visit four nights a week plus Saturday lunchtime.
During the pandemic The Soup Kitchen was faced with the logistical difficulty of making sure that people were still being fed.
This was done by working with other voluntary organisations to facilitate home deliveries where possible, to address where clients could access the food on a regular basis.
This eventually became a huge operation - delivering nearly 700 meals a week.
As the pandemic has eased The Soup Kitchen has now reopened, and supplies food to clients three times a week.
The Soup Kitchen Rochdale is one of 244 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups nationally to receive the prestigious award this year.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities.
Six Representatives of The Soup Kitchen Rochdale will receive the award crystal and certificate from Her Majesty’s Lord-lieutenant of Lancashire, The Lord Shuttleworth KG KCVO later this summer.
In addition, two volunteers from the group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2023.
A DELIVERY driver has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his work in helping the community during the Covid lockdowns.
Brian Morton, 45, volunteered his time to help the local community in Milnrow and Newhey - even after working 14-hour shifts delivering parcels.
Within days of lockdown starting, Brian was running errands for vulnerable residents; delivering shopping, arranging online deliveries and collecting prescriptions.
During lockdown, Brian won the Mary Poppins award for his work in the community, which was voted for by local residents and has now been recognised as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
“It’s quite exciting. I didn’t believe it at first,” said Brian about finding out he had won the award.
“It came quite out of the blue, I didn’t really know these honours existed to be honest!
“I think everyone was doing things for other people and going above and beyond but it was the case that someone thought I was doing more so they nominated me.
“I didn’t do it for glory, I just did it because it felt like the right thing to do.”
As well as delivering shopping for neighbours, Brian also purchased a brand-new radio for an elderly resident after his old one broke.
The radio was his main source of company and was vital to the resident’s wellbeing.
To lift morale Brian also gave out little wooden pocket hugs to those who were lonely and sad due to restrictions, to give them hope and remind them they are not alone. Brian also was not deterred from helping residents when his van was smashed, broken in to and had equipment stolen.
However, Brian said his highlight was handing out more than 500 bags of chocolate to children for Christmas.
He said: “That went down really well, there was nothing that first year. I thought it would be a nice touch.
“To me that was the big thing just to see the faces of the kids and the parents because everyone felt a bit helpless I think. They couldn’t do the normal things with the kids.
“That was the most satisfying thing - giving children a smile.
“It was a very odd experience for everybody but I tried to do some things to make it better for people.
“I’d go round and knock on windows to make sure they were alright, just little things to keep people going. It came naturally just to do it.”
Councillor for Milnrow and Newhey, Irene Davidson, said: “I am over the moon with Brian getting the British Empire Medal. He is an integral part of our villages, not only delivering their parcels but ensuring that they are ok.
“During the lockdown he went out of his way by shopping for those who could not get out, me included.
“This award is so well deserved. I am proud to know him and the wonderful things he does for us, well done Brian.”
Brian Morton, 45, volunteered to help the local community in Milnrow and Newhey – even after working 14-hour shifts delivering parcels. He is pictured with the Mary Poppins award!