'With Thankful Hearts' Harvest appeal

September 28th to October 5th, 2025

Inviting everyone to offer food and resources ‘With Thankful Hearts’ to those who share with others through our Foodbanks and other providers, with a commitment to support them as best we can through the coming winter and challenging times.

Many of us have seen the economic pressures on those on low incomes and on the margins of our society. Although utility bill increases and inflation affects us all, it has a particular impact on those on the margins. We all then have a choice to either reduce our costs and look after ourselves, or to be aware of others and seek to also support them.

Our local Foodbanks, Pantries, Larders and others who provide food are also noticing that their supplies and stocks are decreasing as the demands increase and as the availability of food appears to reduce.

Over the last four years as a city, we have come together and supported a Harvest season campaign in our community groups, schools and faith groups. There was a strong sense of us showing that deep community spirit of which Pompey people are rightly proud.

This year we are encouraging people to also perhaps make a financial donation to support the Kitchen of Hope, based at St Simon’s Church, Southsea. You may have been aware of all the protests and tensions in our city around asylum seekers who are living in the city. It is important that we seek to do what we can to support those who are targeted as people, rather than an object of fear.

There have been discussions with the City of Sanctuary organisation about how best we may do this. The vicar of St Simon's, the Rev Jackie Twine describes the Kitchen of Hope:

Kitchen of Hope is a project that has been running at St Simon’s Church, Southsea for over 18 months. The project helps asylum seekers and volunteers to prepare and cook food together from around the world. We share the meal with anyone who wants to join us in the spirit of fellowship and unity. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn more about each other’s cultures and customs around a table of friends. Many asylum seekers (at the hotel especially), have limited access to cooking the food they love for themselves and enjoy this opportunity to cook and eat together. We feel it’s a ‘holy habit’ and mirrors Christ’s own tradition of sharing food with all sorts of people in the spirit of inclusivity without discrimination

This can be done in all sorts of ways, but we hope you might encourage people to donate food to support local food providers across the city. Donations to the Kitchen of Hope can be made by contacting the Ven Bob White.

The need is great and the pressures on Foodbanks, Pantries and Larders is growing. Supply of food to these provides is diminishing while demand from users is increasing. A simple example of this was the opening in 2024 of the Fratton Together Pantry in the Bridge Centre. In its first three weeks of being opened it had grown to 95 members and each session had over 30 people queuing to shop in the Pantry.

The Ven Bob White can be contacted here.