Soupin' about Derby town

DOING GOOD

Rachael, Emma & myself (Dani) headed out into Derby town to support a local organization called Doorways with their pop-up kitchen. This van & gazebo duo are set up a few evenings a week by the Bonnie Prince Charles statue on Full Street to supply much needed hot meals, essential kitchen supplies & hot drinks to local homeless people, as well as those who have somewhere to sleep, but are in need of extra support.

It was an eye opening experience to see just how many people are homeless or desperately in-need within Derby City; Emma reckons that about eighty odd people accessed the pop-up kitchen last night, which is an incredible number & not something that we visibly see as an issue when passing through the town centre normally.

It was clear that every person there accessing this support had their own unique stories (as well as preferences on what food they do & don't like... good on them!) & it was great to chat to these people, give them an ear to air their concerns to & pass them a hot meal & drink.

Fortunately, Doorways is very well supported by local volunteers & at this time of year, they almost have too many helpers! Me and a couple of the other volunteers floated around the pop-up kitchen chatting to those accessing the support, petting adorable doggos & I even managed to recruit a couple of new GoodGym runners... sneaky!

Emma got stuck in organising the queue to access the hot food, chatting & smiling away, whilst Rachael was serving out essential kitchen items and snacks, including eggs!

What is clear is that Doorways is more than a place to get food; it helps to tackle loneliness for those who are most isolated.

PS. Massive congratulations to Emma who is now a member of the GG Derby Taskforce, with this community mission marking her 10th good deed with us!

WHAT'S NEXT WITH DOORWAYS?

As Doorways is so well supported, we've offered GoodGym's support to them whenever they need it most; if they're having a quiet week for volunteers, they'll let us know & it will be set up as Community Mission, so keep your eyes peeled! Whoever heads to Doorways will have a great time chatting, dishing out grub & sharing stories with local people.

OUR NEXT COMMUNITY MISSION

On the 30th November (Saturday) we're heading to the Bernados charity shop in Derby to help them sort through donation bags, I can't wait to see what treasure we find! To get involved, sign up here.

Big Loves