Multi-faith foodbanks feeding 800 families despite sectarian blight

Local minister and priest coordinating massive campaign to help impoverished community through lockdown

A multi-faith foodbank that sprung up to combat Covid-19 deprivation in a community troubled by sectarianism is feeding 800 families a month.

Springburn Parish Church - the nerve centre of the operation - would usually host a busy congregation.

But pews have been given over to stocks of tinned food, clothes, nappies, meat, fish and groceries, which are packed into bags every day by a team of volunteers at the Springburn Community Food Hub.

Organisers are sending out more than 30 carloads of provisions, including books and toys, as well as dealing with around 10 walk-ins from local people. More than 20 drivers are helped to load up by a team of volunteers.

The regular deliveries include halal meat for around 50 families, who also benefit from supplies of daal, rice and other dry foods.

Regular runs and made to butchers shops and the regular cash and carry run lifts £500 of provisions.

Services also include prescriptions for local people, including both old people who can’t get out and methadone prescriptions for drug addicts who have families, who also take advantage of food handouts.

And families who have run out of funds for gas and electricity are being given cards to top up fuel.

At the HQ, local minister Brian Casey controls the operation with regular inputs from Father John McGrath, of the Roman Catholic “ rival at nearby St Aloysius.

Both men have been saddened by recent reports of sectarian vandalism in the area, which involved anti-Catholic graffiti and alleged criminal damage at an Orange Hall, but both agree the huge local efforts have brought the community closely together.

Rev Casey said: “We’ve had reports of sectarian trouble in Springburn but we feel it’s been attention seeking by a tiny minority of people.

“Our community is characterised better by the solidarity and unity we have across faiths and there has never been a better example of that than during this coronavirus crisis.

“What we have seen here has been something to behold, which has captured the imagination of people who have simply wanted to help others.

“We don’t have any barriers here. Whether you’re helping out or receiving food or clothes, the hub is open to all.”

Due to the virus, no public donations are being sought, meaning the enterprise has relied on cash donations and goodwill from local partners.

Housing Association NG Homes made a substantial donation and support was given by local MOP Bob Doris and

The local Orange Order and freemason group gave £1,000 and the Glasgow Archdiocese also weighted in with £10,000 through its St Nicholas Care Fund.

Father John said the cash is making a huge difference. He said: “Both are churches are in very strange times, with no money coming in via the plate collections, so we are really relying on the generosity of others.

“We started off with tins of beans, stuff like that, like eggs. But if course you need fuel to cook the eggs, so that can mean that a family needs a fuel card, so we try to stretch the resources we have to the best effect.

“I believe the community has come together here, rising to acknowledge a responsibility to help those who are in need of help.

“When we have gone out into communities before, typically in schools, we have spoken to people about what we stand for. We are now going into the community but it’s people’s homes and sometimes the same children we are meeting but this time we are taking action and delivering something.

“I believe the services given by all the volunteers are very much appreciated and we get some very good feedback.”

Food hub coordinator Helen Carroll, of the local community council, said the service had evolved in the past two months to give supplies that really make a difference.

She said: “We care intent of giving people what they need. We do vegan, vegetarian and gluten free. We do halal and we’ve been educated in what can be done with lentils, daal, peas and other dried foods. We’ve supplied toilet rolls, sanitary products, whatever we think is of best use.

“We’ve had great support from local partners like B and M and the Salvation Army and this really has involved so many people in the community.

“Some of the residents here lived through better times, with the railway works and decent jobs. We’re now reaching out to find those who need help most and those who have slipped through the cracks.”

Springburn lurks near the bottom percentile in the Scottish index of Multiple Deprivations and the area has been ravaged by drug deaths.

Tensions in the area were raised earlier this month when the local Orange Hall was set on fire - allegedly the tenth such attack on an Orange property this year.

That incident followed reports of anti-Catholic graffiti being scrawled on walls.