The Arsenal Foundation has helped to fund St John’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen and food bank close to Emirates Stadium. Volunteer Ally Nash-Wiggins tells us about their work and why, sadly, demand is growing.
“I am from London – my mum is British and my Dad is Dominican – and I live in Turnpike Lane with my husband Jimmy, who is a massive Arsenal fan, our godson Lamin and our three cats.
“I am a Lecturer in Education at UCL, where I lead the PGCE in Social Sciences and teach on the MA in Education. I train brilliant and committed people to be sociology teachers in secondary schools on the PGCE programme and also lead work across this programme on Anti-racism, Anti-Discrimination and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). I think being an educator is the best job in the world!
“I am also an anti-racist education consultant and work with training providers, schools and charities, including the Premier League, to support them with equity focused projects which are centred on social justice.
“I have a few other charity roles, including volunteering as a school governor and for Crisis at Christmas. I’ve also been known to help raise money for charity by doing sponsored walks and runs.
“The seeds of my work with St John’s Kitchen were planted when I moved to Crouch End in 2017. I got the Tube to Finsbury Park and walked under the bridge to catch the bus. Every single day I saw unhoused people and those who were really struggling under that bridge. I wanted to do something meaningful to help them so I did some research into local charities and applied for St John’s. I’ve been volunteering with them ever since.
“I lead shifts or volunteer about twice a month, and the rest of the time I help keep things running behind the scenes. We are open on a Tuesday evening and Sunday lunchtime. Every shift we provide hot meals, desserts and food bank parcels for our guests. We also run a clothing bank once a month.
“We help about 520 people per month and each of these people can collect food for two or three other people in their family and/or household – so around 1,000 to 1,500 individuals per month. Demand and need for our help has grown exponentially since Covid, and that’s why we started a food bank in 2020. People were coming to our vicar’s door asking for help with food several times a day, every day – so Alice (the Vicar), Elizabeth (our longest-serving volunteer) and myself decided to do something about it.
“I think that need and therefore demand remains high because of the political choices being made that keep people in food poverty and create hostile environments for the most vulnerable people in our society.
“I am proud of how we have grown and developed as a volunteer-led organisation and are now an official charity. I’m proud of the events that we have put on to raise money and the team of amazing volunteers who turn up every shift and give their all.
“I’m proud of our guests – some of them are now volunteering with us, while some of them have got back on their feet and don't need us anymore but still pop in to say hi. I’m also proud that we make a big effort to make events such as Christmas, Easter and Eid special for our guests and that we have developed positive, lasting relationships with them which show us what a community is supposed to be like.
“The money from The Arsenal Foundation has helped us maintain our food bank, which really helps our guests and their families. I think it’s vital that football clubs support their local communities because support is supposed to be mutual. The clubs are supported by members of their local community, and clubs should do whatever they can to support, nurture and grow these communities.
“On behalf of all the volunteers and all the guests at St John’s, I’d like to thank Arsenal again for your continued support.”
St John’s Kitchen us based at St John the Evangelist Church, Queen’s Drive, N4 2LW, near Finsbury Park Station. For more details visit [stjohnskitchen.org.uk](https://www.stjohnskitchen.org.uk/). To donate, please visit [justgiving.com/stjohnskitchen](https://www.justgiving.com/charity/stjohnskitchen).
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