Food for thought - Sydenham High School

Food for thought

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Students have been given plenty of food for thought about the impact of poverty in the last few weeks.

On Tuesday 11 March, Global Poverty Ambassador Jude Mackenzie from the Global Poverty Project (http://www.globalpovertyproject.com), spoke to year 9 about tackling the challenge of world poverty.  She explained the scale of the problem but also the fact that the world can afford to eradicate world poverty within their generation if people take positive action and get involved, from supporting campaigns to buying Fair Trade goods.  She also explained how initiatives such as ‘See Through Fashion’ and ‘Lend With Care’ are also contributing to change.

Getting involved was also the message on Thursday 27 February Luke Aylward and Saira Bohan-Croft from Lewisham Foodbank came to talk to year 7 about the vital work they do much closer to home.  They were also there to pick up a huge pile of goods collected by the girls  as this term’s ‘How hard can it be’ enrichment programme task.  Having collected around £70 from cake sales and donations, the girls approached a number of local grocery suppliers to see if they could make their funds go as far as possible.

Local family tea business Birchall agreed to provide dozens of boxes of their teas.  Sainsbury’s Savacentre in Sydenham then agreed to match the girls’ shopping funds so they were able to buy double the amount of key food items needed by the Foodbank.  The girls went on a special shopping trip to the store – calculators in hand so that they could ensure they really did get the best value for money from their budget.

Luke told the girls that the groceries would help at least four large families in the borough with their weekly needs. Lewisham Foodbank has helped feed some 4,000 people since it opened in 2012.  The girls also learned how important the work of the Lewisham Foodbank is, not just in providing groceries but also in terms of emotional support for those in crisis.

“It’s wonderful what these girls have done on their own initiative,” said Luke Aylward of Lewisham Foodbank.  “We are very grateful for these fantastic donations and want to thank everyone concerned.  We hope their action will inspire others to help as well because we rely on donations to support those in genuine crisis.”

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