Mersea Homes supports kids lunch club

15th October 2019

The MakeLunch project, run by Churches Together in Myland, which is based at the Mile End Methodist Church, provides cooked food during the school holidays for local families who are eligible for free school meals during term time.

The project also offers a range of free activities, including crafts, outdoor games and face painting.

The much-needed grant for a new oven has been awarded by the Mersea Homes Charitable Fund set up by the property development firm in 2010 with the independent charitable trust Essex Community Foundation (ECF).

To date the fund has distributed grants totalling £30,000 to support local voluntary and community organisations in Essex.

Lynsey Heslegrave, who runs the lunch club and is the Baptist Minister at Churches Together in Myland, said: “We are so grateful for the grant from the Mersea Homes Charitable Fund as we desperately needed a larger and more efficient oven to help meet a growing demand.

“We cook hot and healthy meals every Thursday in the school summer holidays and during some other holidays for children and their parents or carers.

“This helps to support them through what can be a very difficult time of the year both financially and emotionally.

“When we first started providing meals in 2017, we had around 10 to 15 people attending the lunches. This past Summer we had 40 people through our doors every week.”

Stuart Cock, managing director of Mersea Homes, said: “We were very pleased to buy a new oven for the lunch club as we know that so many local families will benefit from the meals and the activities that are also provided.”

ECF supports a wide range of community and voluntary activities across Essex. For more information, visit call 01245 356018.