HeBrews, St Paul’s Addlestone Church Community Cafe, has just won the prestigious Volunteer Group of the Year at Runnymede Borough Civic Awards.
HeBrews is a PayAsYouFeel Coffee Shop on a mission. It partners with local branches of national food chains. The goal is to provide free/affordable meals to members of the local community whilst minimising food waste.
It’s possible to eat for free, but donation boxes allow customers to pay what they can.
“Many in Addlestone have been really challenged by the cost of living together with high personal debt,” says the Revd Ben Beecroft, Vicar of St Paul’s. “We have a lot of shift workers on zero-hours contracts and in service industries. PayAsYouFeel allows people to more easily carry their respect and dignity,” he says.
The cafe gets a lot of food bank referrals. People are encouraged to come and have a healthy hot meal. It also runs a community fridge with fresh food donated by local businesses.
The cafe’s name came through prayer together with the Bible verse Hebrews 13 v2. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares”.
HeBrews Manager, Kellie Court says, “We aim to offer a warm, safe space to bless all in our community. No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted here at HeBrews.”
During school holidays St Paul’s use food from their donors to run the Loaves and Fishes project to tackle food poverty in the area. Sandwich lunches are distributed from four points around the town. During the 2022 summer holidays, the church provided 2,500 nourishing lunches for school children.
That’s extended in term time to Winter Warmers. A street-side station with church volunteers offering hot drinks, pastries & fruit to teenage students on their way to classes, to ensure they have had something to eat to set them up for the school day. Over 100 can be given out on any one day. The church also now runs as a key Warm Hub in the borough three days a week.
“The Church is called to be salt and light,” says Ben. “It’s great when the community sees in real and tangible ways what ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ looks like, when it’s offered in this ‘no-strings attached’ way.”