ONTINUING with Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal spotlight series, we now turn our attention to another of this year’s partner charities, Loaves and Fishes.
Loaves and Fishes is a Glasgow-based charity which tackles hunger and poverty among the city’s homeless. The charity started out over 20 years ago as a soup kitchen, aiming to help feed the homeless from the back of a van.
In 2003 the charity moved indoors for the first time, where they were able to provide greater comfort, warmth and a friendly atmosphere for those in need of their support. One of Celtic’s favourite sons, Tommy Burns, was a regular volunteer with the charity.
Today they’re based at Renfield St. Stephen’s Church in Glasgow’s City Centre and the need for their service is greater now than ever. Loaves and Fishes provide meals on Monday and Thursday evenings, catering for over 100 families a week. Any donation received from Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal will allow the charity to run an extra Wednesday evening meal throughout the festive period.
In addition to their meal service, Loaves and Fishes also run a food bank in East Kilbride where, throughout the year, the charity delivers more than 1,500 food parcels to families and individuals in Glasgow, as well as North and South Lanarkshire.
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Chairman of Loaves and Fishes, Denis Curran spoke to us about the wonderful work of the charity and their continued need for support this Christmas.
“Loaves and Fishes is a voluntary charity,” he said. “We really depend entirely on the generous donations of many individuals, organisations and companies. Everyone who works with us does so on a voluntary basis, which means that any funds raised can go directly towards helping those in need.
“We’re finding that there are even more people looking for help now than ever before, so we’ll be opening our doors from now until Christmas and they’re open to anyone who needs our support.
“A young man came to us for the first time this week and told us how wonderful it had been to sit at a table, with real cutlery, and to be made to feel welcome and treated with respect. These are simples things that we take for granted but there are so many people out there experiencing the same struggles.”
Loaves and Fishes has been a beneficiary of Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal for a number of years now, and Denis spoke of his gratitude that the charity will once again be on the receiving end of the generosity shown by our supporters.
“We’re absolutely over the moon that we will once again benefit from Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal,” he said. “Without the Foundation’s help, we would not be able to meet demands this Christmas; it really is a vital resource for us. We are anticipating that this will be our busiest Christmas period ever, as there are so many families out there struggling to feed themselves.
“Any donation will allow us to put on an extra meal during the winter. We try to not only give people food, clothing and toiletries; we look to give them hope that tomorrow will be different. A donation from Celtic FC Foundation helps us to do this.”
Our 2017 Christmas Appeal was launched at the end of October and reflects the very essence of why our club was set up back in 1887.
We want to help around 300 local families facing poverty, to provide a meal on the table and gifts for the kids. We want to bring the magic of Christmas to those homes. We are also looking to help vulnerable local pensioners to ease the financial burden at a challenging time of year plus a number of other local charities who support those experiencing homelessness or other disadvantage.
But we can’t do this without you. So together, let’s Share the Spirit of Celtic this Christmas.
To get behind the Christmas Appeal 2017, you can:
- Donate by Text – text ‘CELT07’ followed by ‘£1’, ‘£5’ or ‘£10’ to 70070
- Donate Online – www.celticfcfoundation.com
- Donate via Paypal – www.celticfcfoundation.com
- Donate in Cash – there are collection boxes located in all Celtic Stores
- Donate by Cheque – payable to ‘Celtic FC Foundation’ and sent to Celtic FC Foundation, Celtic Park, Glasgow, G40 3RE.
- Give as you Live via your Christmas Shopping –www.celticfcfoundation.com
- Sign up for the Celtic Sleep Out, London on Friday, November 24 – http://www.celticfc.net/news/13347
- Come along to the Ghirls for Good ladies event on Saturday, December 2 – http://www.celticfc.net/news/13240
- Support our matchday bucket collection on Saturday, December 2 – to register as a volunteer collector, call 0141 551 4204 or email [email protected]
- Take part in our new Light up the Clover event on Wednesday, December 13 – further details to follow.
- Download Kevin Miles’ single ‘Celtic, My Heart and My Soul’ – http://www.celticfc.net/news/13494
