Members were delighted to welcome Susan Brett to the February meeting. Susan realised that there was a real problem in Maidenhead for a number of residents who simply could not afford to feed themselves properly. Starting from simply making soup and serving it from the boot of her car she has moved on to a fullscale Foodbank which operates in conjunction with social services. Initially she used her garage but now has premises and a large number of volunteers. Those in need receive a voucher from social services which entitles them to use the foodbank. However just providing food was only part of the problem as some recipients could not cook so Susan moved on to providing simple cookery and nutrition lessons.
She has also worked with the homeless to provide accommodation and stepping stones back to being employed and ultimately having their own accommodation. Her latest project is to have a double decker bus converted to provide sleeping accommodation on the upper deck and a meeting place and kitchen on the lower deck. All this in addition to having a family of four children!