Donating a Day

This week, a team from Lloyds Bank downed tools and donated a day to Caring For Life! We are immensely grateful to all our volunteers, including groups of corporate volunteers, who take time away from their usual duties to help us out.

The Lloyds volunteers knew what they were in for, some having volunteered in the past, so they knew they would be faced with a mountain of tinned food to sort!

A wonderful and very welcome flood of harvest gifts arrives at Caring For Life at this time of the year, donated by churches and groups up and down the country. But it all has to be sorted. The Lloyds team worked throughout the day, sorting tins into not only food types, but also date categories, so that they can be used effectively for food parcels.

Their help was crucial and made all the difference in enabling us to store the food which has been donated. Every food parcel that will be given out in the year ahead, every Christmas hamper, and every free meal served, depends on careful sorting of food at this stage.

We are truly grateful that the Lloyds volunteers donated a day, and their time was certainly well used. 

People who donate food and volunteers who help to sort it are all a part of a wonderful ministry of providing very practically and compassionately for people who are finding life itself a  real  struggle. Much of our work at Caring For Life involves giving people time; time to listen and really hear what a person is trying to say, time to sit with someone who simply needs company, or time to advocate for them when the world of housing applications, benefits or bills is just overwhelming. 

We in turn do thank all our volunteers who give Caring For Life the valuable donation of time.

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A Gap Year with a Difference

In recent years, it has become common for young people to take a gap year between school and further education or employment, or a year out later on before seeking work. Internships are offered by some charities and companies, enabling young people to gain experience in a role and build up their experience, or build up their CV!

Caring For Life’s Time For Jesus year is a gap year with a difference, as it provides young people with a real experience of Christian ministry, working with the staff team and getting involved in a huge variety of tasks. There are also regular, dedicated times to talk through the Christian faith and to study the Bible together.

Hannah, Matthew and Jovie joined the team this week and have been busy undertaking induction, learning their way around Crag House Farm, where Caring For Life is based, getting to know staff, volunteers and the many people attending various projects, and generally getting stuck in! 

At this time of the year, one major role is to help to sort all the wonderful harvest gifts that come in, replenishing the food stores for the coming year. But whether it is sorting tins, packing up Christmas cards, helping with lunches, working on different projects, being a listening ear, or undertaking any of a myriad tasks, it is all a part of sharing the love of Jesus here at Caring For Life. And from what many former Time For Jesus volunteers have described, this gap year is an amazing experience that will stay with them, on through life. 

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#CragHouseFarm #CaringForLife #CFL #TFJs #TimeForJesus #Volunteers #GapYear #Harvest

Harvest and Harvesting

A team from Xiros came along to Caring For Life recently to lend a hand for the day, helping with both sorting harvest and harvesting! They worked really hard, on what turned out to be a beautiful, warm autumn day.

In the morning, the team helped to sort tinned food and other food items, getting the food stores tidied up and ready for the influx of harvest gifts which were due any day.

In the afternoon they tackled harvest of a different kind, picking apples here at Crag House Farm, the home of Caring For Life.

The apples are turned into pressed apple juice, and the fruit has to be picked at just the right time! 

We are really thankful to the team for all their efforts, and their very practical support of Caring For Life’s work. 

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#CragHouseFarm #CaringForLife #CFL #Volunteers #CorporateVolunteering #Xiros #Harvest #ApplePicking