29 Oct 2024
New Greens, Monday evening in the church hall – there is a buzz. Tables full of families chattering, seniors cheered to see old friends, teenagers elated to see bountiful buckets of chicken wings,children in full chase , sisters catching up on a week worth of news, mums simply glad to stop and catch their breath.
It is the sum of all these interactions, different generations in conversation, older children helping younger at the drinks table, regular guests guiding the new with the idiosyncrasies of the retro 1960s hostess trolley, that generates this joyful vibe. It is this exuberant atmosphere that powers the enthusiasm of the volunteers of Christ Church, New Greens, to cook and serve every single Monday. It’s a genuine perpetual devotion machine.
Known as ‘Monday Suppers’, this weekly community meal has just served up its 10,000th three course meal and celebrated its second birthday on October 21.
What started as an idea to help New Greens’ residents to stay warm and eat a good meal in the face of the fuel price increases of the autumn of 2022, is now a weekly focal point for the New Greens’ community, where guests of all ages, backgrounds, faiths and none, meet, eat, chat and support one another.
When Christ Church member Damian Gaskin had the notion to use the modest church facilities to serve a community meal there were three imperatives and one nagging doubt: first, the meal had to be absolutely delicious, with multiple serving options on a professional menu; second, it had to be completely free, with not even a donation bowl on the food counter.
Thirdly everyone had to feel welcome. The doubt was that he had never cooked for more than six people and most of that was frozen pizza. This concern meant he put the idea on ice in the chest freezer at the back of his mind. However, over the course of the summer of 2022 the lid kept thumping from the inside.
Eventually, he couldn’t sit on it any longer and spoke with Vicar, Jeremy Follett who asked Damian to establish a small team to see if such an initiative was practical and sustainable.
Enter church members, Malcolm Blaxland, a retired biomedical scientist and multi-talented singer-songwriter with a passion for cooking, Paul Baily, Clare Henderson, Rosemary Drew, all retired teachers with a love of outreach for the community, and a local volunteer, Nyala Grunwald, a PhD student and steelpan recording artist with incredible culinary and organisational talents.
The team put on the first low key Monday Suppers on the evening of October 17 2022 and served 25 members of the church.
Two years later the team of – now – 30 volunteers is serving upto 150 guests from all over New Greens and further afield. The team could not have foreseen how Monday Suppers would grow and what changes it would initiate.
Parents say it is their children that insist they come to Monday Suppers because apparently “it’s the place to be”. At the school gates children have been heard to shout to friends, “Are you going to Monday Suppers later?” There’s the excitement of continuing to play into the early evening, making new friends from across schools and knowing there is always a chicken nugget nearby.
The children see community in action, people serving one another with genuine goodwill and enjoy being part of something big, loud, friendly and outside of the walls of their homes or schools. Many children are seen helping their parents clear up, hoover in tow or wiping tables.
For the parents it is time to enjoy wonderful food without the stress of cooking and socialise with friends or make new ones. Extended families gather and everyone can catch up at least once a week.
For some, living by themselves, cooking for one is not easy. There is the exertion of preparing and cleaning up for one short meal; or the memories of cooking for those who are no longer present.
So, for these guests Monday Suppers is important for well being. For some guests it is the only time in the week that they leave their homes.
It was at Monday Suppers that 25-year-old Myah Richards, who suffers from multiple conditions leaving her wheelchair bound, was able to find support for a much-needed holiday and some respite care for her mum. Monday Suppers’ guests and the wider St Albans community helped her raise £3,000.
One family has a grandmother who only visits New Greens once or twice a year. While the family may show her the latest St Albans’ hotspots, Monday Suppers is always the highlight. Another grandmother visiting from Germany explained that she had not seen anything like Monday Suppers in the churches back home.
In the summer of 2024 Christ Church held a free holiday club. It was a great success with twice as many children attending than in 2023. The reason for this was because so many children knew the venue, the adults running the club and the lovely food from Monday Suppers.
Several of the longstanding volunteers who had no connection with the church before Monday Suppers now regularly spend long (happy) hours in the kitchen washing dishes or serving food.
The church has also benefitted from the voluntary help of three local students in the Duke of Edinburgh programme who in return have received their bronze awards.
One guest has donated the proceeds of her late husband’s library to help supplement the weekly food bill.
From the guest community, members have joined the church’s litter picking, ‘Bike Bus’ and quiz team initiatives.
Monday Suppers has also rejuvenated relationships at Christ Church. Working together in a hot kitchen for 12 hours with a vision to serve the community has created incredibly strong bonds between those in the team.
The Vicar, Jeremy, believes that Monday Suppers has also been important in community adhesion.
There had been some local anti-social behaviour and the community police officer had been unable to help. Lo and behold, as a result of Monday Suppers being open to all and everyone very welcome, one particular issue calmed down.
Perhaps the ‘ice-cream scoop’ says it all; Pat sits at one of the rowdiest tables with her lively and fun-loving friends with an average age of 80 something.
Pat is 96 and is understood to be the oldest resident of New Greens who has lived on the estate since it was built. Pat donated a working mechanical ice-cream scoop used to serve ice-cream in the 1930s at her parents’ café.
She would not have given that to the team unless Monday Suppers was a place she felt happy, comfortable and loved.
Monday Suppers is not just about serving a hot meal. Yes, some people need the food. But some people need the company. And some people need to share.
And if you don’t need the food, then you can have your meal and listen to someone, or fill up your plate and make a hearty donation that pays for your meal and someone else’s. (A donation bowl does exist, just not on the counter).
The cost of feeding 140 people a week is miraculously low. When donations and gift aid are taken into consideration the cost per guest to the Christ Church community is about 15p – for a three course meal, all the trimmings and a doggy bag in case you get peckish.
Monday Suppers provides a weekly anchorage point of friendship, community, consistency, listening and love.
With new volunteers coming to support the team all the time and the team’s commitment to serve only growing in enthusiasm, Monday Suppers looks like being a permanent fixture in the New Greens calendar with many more birthday to come, though Pat’s set a very high bar.
