Member of Parliament for Clwyd South, Simon Baynes MP, made a socially distanced visit, along with his constituency office staff, to Rhos Community Café on Thursday 23 July to learn more about the work of volunteers in providing vulnerable people locally with food parcels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The café, which is based at Berlin House, Market Street, provides food boxes to 200 residents in Rhos, Penycae, Johnstown area every week, including people from the Portuguese and Polish communities.
The café first opened its doors in 2012, providing a safe space for people in the community. Mr Baynes was given a tour of the café by Manager, Grace Lockhart, a trained Church Minister and leader of the church that meets in the café, which is connected to The Community Church in Wrexham. He also met volunteers Jason Parry and Stacey Murphy, who have helped at the café since 2013 and 2012 respectively.
The Community Café has been supported by Steven Morgan Foundation, Moon Dance, and with grants from the Welsh Resilience Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund. They have also received donations from Rhos Community Council, AVOW, the Rotary Club, and Tesco Bags of Help.
Rhos Community Café are also now exploring opportunities to work with Wrexham Food Bank. Food is currently donated to the Community Café by supermarkets and charities such as Tesco in Cefn Mawr, Asda, Bookers and Rhos and Rhostyllen Co-op.
Rhos Community Café Manager, Grace Lockhart, said:
“We’re incredibly grateful for Simon’s support and are really proud to be able to help members of our local community during these unprecedented times. We want anyone who’s struggling to know that we’re here and ready to support you, so please get in touch if you need help.”
Simon Baynes MP said:
“Rhos Community Café have played an absolutely vital role supporting the local community during the Coronavirus pandemic. And I was incredibly impressed to see first-hand the amazing work they do providing food parcels and emotional and wellbeing support to vulnerable residents.
“My constituency office staff have also volunteered to step in and help support the Community Café by collecting food from supermarkets and delivering parcels to vulnerable residents locally. If anyone is interested in volunteering, I’d encourage them to get in touch with Grace Lockhart at the Community Café on 01978 447477.”