by Kathryn Yates, Culture and Communities Manager
Connections lead to friendships - this is how it works!
In St Albans on a rainy Tuesday night this week I was lucky to be invited by some of the people who draw on support at Crosby Close to join them at St Luke's church for a Community Meal.
The meal is a collaboration with the St Alban’s Community Pantry, and volunteers cook a meal each week in term time using donated food. This week it was sausage casserole and veg with bread and butter pudding for afters.
The tables were reserved and we sat in the warm space welcomed by volunteers – a real mix of people connected with the church and the pantry and some local teenagers. Several people came over to chat during the meal as well as serve us and check we had everything we needed.
Ashton, a person who draws on support, loves any kind of practical joke. That evening he spent some time banging on the table with a spoon. He screwed up a sign and threw it playfully at one of the volunteers. Ashton doesn’t use words to communicate. One of the volunteers, Judy, came over and threw the paper back with a bit of banter. She remembered Ashton had been last week and wanted to know how he was, what he’d enjoyed and if he could whistle. She said that she thought they were alike because she liked to have a laugh and cause a bit of mischief too.
It was a gloriously ordinary connection of two people who “got” each other. And wouldn’t have met in other circumstances. Spending time alongside each other had brought the chance to start to look out for each other each week and for a friendship to blossom.
Antoinette, the service manager, said that the connection with St Luke's had been so positive that they had looked around and reached out to other spaces and were going to a community coffee morning that Sunday.
Maybe Judy and Ashton will be causing mischief and bringing some joy there too.
