Mental health support worker helps provide food for vulnerable in Southend

A selfless mental health support worker from Essex Partnership University NHS Trust (EPUT) has helped provide fresh food to hundreds of vulnerable people each week at a soup kitchen in Southend.

Gordon Crabbe, who works for the Intensive Outreach team at EPUT, spends his free time collecting food from a supermarket on Canvey Island three times a week. He then splits the goods into food parcels, which he then delivers to the One Love Project’s soup kitchen.

The father-of-four has been volunteering alongside his wife Tracey and spends hours along with other volunteers helping people in need of food and drinks as well as entertaining children with balloon modelling while their parents queue up.

Gordon, who collects surplus items from supermarkets such as Marks and Spencer’s and outlets such as Greggs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night after finishing his shifts at EPUT, said: “I started helping my wife Tracey, who began volunteering after she gave up her job to raise our two young children. We really enjoyed it so I began to volunteer on a more regular basis.

“It’s such a great charity and the volunteers at the Southend One Love Project’s soup kitchen are amazing people who give up their time week in and week out to help the community and if I can make it easier for them to help those that are in need then I will.

“More and more people are needing a helping hand at the moment and we are really lucky that the supermarket and other outlets give us all their surplus produce that they cannot sell on which benefits so many people. It’s amazing how many people rely on this project to survive.”

Former DJ and entertainer Gordon started working at EPUT as bank staff before moving to a permanent full time job. After his shift he drives and collects goods such as rolls, breads, pastries, meat and fish, and fresh produce, which he takes home to divide up, cook and freeze before taking it to Southend.

The goods are then delivered to the One Love soup kitchen, which runs twice a week on a Monday and Thursday evening and also provides a food bank service once a week on a Thursday daytime.

The soup kitchen, which sees up to 120 people pass through its doors for a hot meal on both nights, also offers people a hot shower, a change of clothes and a night pack to take away.

Leah Darby, Head of Operations at the One Love Project, said: “We are so thankful to the likes of Gordon and Tracey, who support in collections. This kind of support is imperative to the logistics of both the soup kitchen and the food bank and allows us to be able to offer more food and more choice to those who need our services.

“We could not do what we do or deliver the vital services we do without our amazing team of volunteers, and we are truly grateful to each and every one of them who give up their time to support.

“We have approximately 100 volunteers, from those who help out at
 our day and evening services, our collectors and our back-office admin support from trustees to committee's and much more.

“At our food bank, we offer lots of free fresh produce, donated from local supermarkets which can consist of fresh fruit and veg, sandwiches, cakes, bread and tinned goods, which our families can choose as they go through as well as lots of low-cost cupboard goods, toiletries and clothing.

“We have very recently launched a pop-up kitchen, which runs at our foodbank whereby we cook freshly cooked nutritious meals. These cost £1 per adult and children eat for free.

“Our food bank is open to all who need support with food, and we do not have a referral system in place.”