Most Mondays, children at Scallywags Nursery in Hornchurch help prepare hot meals that are then delivered to local registered homeless charity Hope4Havering.
Ingredients are donated by the nursery and parents, whose generosity is ‘outstanding’, says nursery owner Emma Reynolds (pictured above left in blue).
‘If we are making Shepherd’s Pie or a curry, for instance, the nursery would normally provide the meat and then parents would bring in the vegetables,’ she said.
Ms Reynolds said she became involved after she noticed a stark increase in homeless people in Havering and searched online for ways to help out.
After making contact with Hope4Havering, she started volunteering at the charity one night a week with her son Benjamin.
‘I then emailed parents and asked if they would mind if their children became involved,’ Ms Reynolds said.
Although the children haven’t been able to visit the shelter, Ms Reynolds said she has shown them pictures of some of the people eating their food.
‘The children and families at Scallywags Nursery have really got behind this cause,’ she said.
Local resident and founder of Hope4Havering Kim Merry has been running the charity for more than five years and is always looking for volunteers and donations to keep the charity going.
‘I think its incredible that the children at Scallywags Nursery are helping the residents at Hope4Havering. It's important that children develop an awareness of the needs of the world around them from an early age,’ she said.
- The nursery staff are sleeping out on 30 June to raise money for the charity. Contact scallywagsnursery@hotmail.co.uk
Donate at www.justgiving.com/hope4-havering or send a cheque payable Hope4Havering to Sennen Cottage, Ockendon Road, Upminster, RM14 2DN.
