‘What are you giving up for Lent?’
This might be a question you have heard many times over the years, particularly if you are part of a Christian community. Lent, the 40 day period leading up to Easter, begins this Wednesday, right after the much loved national ‘Pancake Day’, our yearly excuse to consume pancakes, guilt free, for any or every meal of the day.
As we approach this season, the question ‘What are you giving up for Lent?’, got me thinking about all those in our community who are experiencing financial and emotional hardship. Those who have to give things up, but not by choice; who are making decisions every day about what to go without so that they can ensure their survival. Whether that is giving up a warm home to buy school uniform, or missing out on meals to pay an essential bill.
In 2024, we supported 4000 individuals, and 473 households accessed the foodbank. Whilst we have seen a 24% reduction in the number of clients accessing the foodbank multiple times, there are still many people accessing the foodbank for the first time. This indicates that there are still too many people in our community for whom giving up something essential has become part of their day to day existence.
Maybe the question we could ask ourselves at the start of Lent isn’t ‘What are we giving up?’ but simply ‘What are we giving?’
If you’d like to support our work, we invite you to make use of our 2025 Lent Resource, to reflect upon the challenges of those experiencing financial hardship in our communities and (when you’re ready) take our End Poverty Pledge and commit to a simple action to tackle local poverty. If you’d like to donate food, you can also choose to donate up to 40 items from our wishlist.
If you are able, a financial donation helps us to provide signposting, advice and support through our Support Team services.
Together, let us make this Lent period an opportunity to support our community, simply by giving.
This blog was written by Dafne, Operations Manager at Good Company.
