Page 8 - Eagle Eye Autumn 2022

From meal budgeting
to a community
project
by Cpl Royce-Dexter
We started in 2018 while at 36 Engr Regt. My Wife Racheal and I noticed a lot of discounted food in supermarkets. It became a game, grabbing what you could and who got the best yellow stickers. We then supplemented this into our weekly meals. Finding Apps such as Shopmium and Checkout Smart - Apps that offered food promotions such as free samples or money off. We continued to use the apps over the year and then used it to help with things at Christmas.
We assigned to 42 Engr Regt in Jul 19. A new app “Olio”, where food which was on its “Best Before”, was offered to representatives who would then distribute it. Racheal and I started out small, with retailers slow on the rollout, but soon were picking up vegetables here, loaves of bread there. In February 2020 the first rumbles of COVID 19 appeared on the news and, 4 weeks later, lock down.
The day that lockdown began was the day our budgeting took a course which lasted 29 months. Racheal began calling Costa, Greggs, Subway in the local area explaining she’s an “Olio” Rep and if they had anything for her that they would be throwing away during the initial lock down so that we can distribute it to the local community. An onslaught of 6 Inch Subs, Greggs sausage rolls, Costa milk, and other food followed. Hundreds of pounds worth that would have gone to landfill.
The new routine for all of us had started, finding ways to occupy our daily routine - PT and Joe Wicks with the kids by morning.
Shouting a question 17 times in the hope you we could become a primary school teacher in the afternoon, and looking for other ways to fill the time made free by the lockdown. Well, this was ours, a mechanic in a past life I began fixing cars with my friend Mark for free for those in need, odd jobs giving people weekly savings of £100s in labour. Months went by and furloughs began for the civilian members of the community. People began to struggle to pay rent, a bill or buy food, absolutely not acceptable!
“Helping Hands Wyton On the Hill, Because Everybody Matters” was born, a community group made to help with food, budgeting and so on. The inbox began filling with people who needed a break, maybe a bag of food to supplement their weekly shop. The process was collecting the food, checking it, bagging it and then getting it out. My kitchen and dining room filled wall to wall. Loading the trusty Astra and going on the rounds. The months flew by and soon it was once again Christmas.
The plan - empty surplus food from 2 Aldi supermarkets and a Co-Op and go from there. We had on hand two vans, four cars and group of people who wanted to help. Christmas evening came and off we went, the first load came, no one expected it - enough food to feed a regiment. The priority was people most in need, those who would have had to choose between food and gifts were all called offering it out, many took something,
but the house was still full.
On to Facebook and along came the
masses. The house, now makeshift shop, saw people come through leaving with bags of food which all would have gone to landfill. 5 hours later and the last 10 crates of veg went to a very happy farmer - later we could start our Christmas.
2021 was much the same, the weekly runs deliveries and so on. Then out of the blue a local charity contacted us asking for help with food and household items. Again, the work steered us into another avenue - sourcing goods for people. Not an issue, a few weeks of savvy Facebook shopping and a needy house was now carpeted, had a sofa, beds, kitchen appliances and so on, this happened more and more. We continued in the same way to Christmas 2021.
In 29 months we had helped feed our community, providing weekly shopping for the most vulnerable families, gained funding from the Co-op and Aldi, provided Xmas food and presents for the community and children in care, furnished homes for vulnerable people, sent brand new clothing Items to two third world countries and held two events fund raising over £1000 all working with local charities and organisations within the local area.
The experience opened us up to see just how much waste we create and how, with some initiative it can be better used to support those in our communities.
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