For the past six years the Upper Room at the John Paul Centre, Middlesbrough has been providing food on Saturday afternoons for those in need. Every week we get around 30 to 40 mainly young people who, for all sorts of reasons, are hungry.

This is sometimes because they are homeless, ‘on the street’ or because they are not in receipt of benefits and have no money to buy food or because they are struggling with difficulties or addictions and are not welcome in the food shops or cafes in town. On Wednesday afternoon food, medical care and advice are provided in the Upper Room by the Primary Care Team of the NHS. On other days the Salvation Army, St Columba’s Church and ‘the Bus’ in St Columba’s car park near Sainsbury’s make food available. For close on six years now the John Paul Centre, representing the Catholic Church in the town centre, has been filling the gap and providing food on Saturday afternoon.

The Upper Room is open on Saturday afternoons from 1.00-2.00 pm. We provide a selection of hot and cold food as well as tea and coffee and soft drinks. The Upper Room is also a place where people can come and sit for a time, something that is appreciated especially in the winter. We do not interrogate or judge those who come and, provided they follow the rules of the place, they are always welcome. They appreciate very much what is done for them and express their thanks in their own inimitable but touching ways.

All this is possible because of the generosity of the volunteer helpers who give up part of their Saturdays to prepare and serve the food and be around to make sure things run smoothly. Over the years many people have given their time and we are grateful to them. However we need to be always asking for more volunteers to keep the work going. The more help we have the more we can do. The ideal is to have three or four teams or more so that your turn does not come round too often and the load is shared. We appreciate that Saturday is not the easiest of days and people have lots of other ties and commitments. But if you could help we would be delighted to hear from you. During the summer we had to close for a number of weeks because it was not possible to find enough staff.

You don’t need to be an expert or have any special skills – just a willingness to lend a hand as part of a team, preparing food or making tea or washing up. All you need to give is your time, a helping hand and a smile!

If you can help, please get in touch with the John Paul Centre and speak to one of the priests. Or if you want to leave your name and telephone number we will give you more information. Thank you.

The John Paul Centre, 55 Grange Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 5AU Tel (01642) 247831.