OUR spotlight series on this year’s Christmas Appeal beneficiaries continues today as we now turn our attention to the work of Loaves and Fishes, a Glasgow-based charity which tackles hunger and poverty among the city’s homeless.
The charity stemmed from humble beginnings, having started out almost 30 years ago as a soup kitchen, aiming to help feed the homeless from the back of a van.
Loaves and Fishes moved indoors in 2003 for the first time, allowing it to provide greater comfort, warmth and a friendly atmosphere for those in need. One of Celtic’s favourite sons, Tommy Burns, was a regular volunteer with the charity.
Today Loaves and Fishes is based at Renfield St. Stephen’s Church in Glasgow’s City Centre where it provides meals on Monday and Thursday evenings, catering for over 100 families a week.
Once again, the donation from Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal will allow the charity to also provide this vital service on a Wednesday evening, throughout winter.
Founder of Loaves and Fishes, Denis Curran, spoke of the importance of the backing received and the continued need for further support. He said: “Loaves and Fishes is a completely voluntary organisation and we are fully dependent on the goodwill and generosity of people and other organisations.
“The festive period can be a really difficult time for the people who come through our doors. For many of them, they simply have nowhere else to go, so coming in here is an invaluable resource.
“We are finding that more and more people are using our service and that’s why being able to put on an extra meal throughout the winter time is so important. The donation received from Celtic FC Foundation allows us to run the extra Wednesday meal from November right through until March.
“It really is vital to so many people, to be able to know that they have a meal on a Wednesday night from now until March just helps to even make their lives that little bit easier.
“Words can’t really describe how grateful we are for the support of Celtic FC Foundation and everyone who has donated to their Appeal. Thank you so much and we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.”
Loaves and Fishes joins Scottish Refugee Council, Glasgow East Women’s Aid, The Invisibles, St Roch’s FC Foundation, Glasgow City Mission, Spirit Aid, Salvation Army Parkhead, Refuweegee, Simon Community Scotland and Glasgow Children’s Hospital, plus three London-based organisations – St Anne’s Primary School, St Anne’s Church and the Cardinal Hume Centre – as the Christmas Appeal beneficiaries which have been announced thus far.
Through the Appeal, we want to help hundreds of local families facing poverty. Giving them the kind of Christmas most of us take for granted. With lots of food on the table and gifts for the kids. Making sure Santa pays a visit on Christmas Eve.
We also want to support pensioners on our doorstep, by lending a hand at a difficult time of year. Local charities need our help too. We can make a massive difference to the lives of children, the homeless, those living in refuge, refugees and those facing other challenges.
So please continue to help us Make Dreams Come True this Christmas.
To get behind the Christmas Appeal 2018, you can:
1. Take part in our Light up the Clover event on Thursday, December 13 HERE
2. Donate by Text – text ‘CELT07’ followed by ‘£1’, ‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70070
3. Donate Online HERE
4. Donate via Paypal HERE
5. Donate in Cash – there are collection boxes located in all Celtic Stores
6. Donate by Cheque – payable to ‘Celtic FC Foundation’ and sent to Celtic FC Foundation, Celtic Park, Glasgow, G40 3RE.
7. Give As You Live via your Christmas Shopping HERE
8. Download Toy Tin Soldier’s charity single ‘A Club Where All Belong’ HERE
9. Make a donation to receive your ‘Celtic FC Foundation Letter from Santa’ HERE
Thank you for making a difference.
