A new ‘bistro’ is set to launch and begin serving some of the “neediest families” living within some of the most deprived streets of Liverpool.
Team Oasis, a children’s charity and community centre based in the heart of Dingle, L8, has been providing free food for people in the local area since 2019. Initially, there was a small take up, but a year later users of the service rapidly grow as Covid-19 pandemic swept through the city, the charity’s founder Paul Nilson told the ECHO in December.
Just under 100 households are now fed by the weekly free food offering which takes place on Wednesdays. The need in the area was further drawn into the spotlight late last year when fresh census data showed that Team Oasis on Park Hill Road is at the centre of some of the most deprived streets in the city.
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In the collection of homes along South Hill Road, Beloe Street and Cockburn Street, 7.2% of households are deprived in four dimensions, according to the Office for National Statistics, ranging from education, employment, health and housing. Work to develop the charity’s food offer has been taking place in recent months with the service now set to expand to providing free hot meals in a “bistro-type” setting indoors.
Speaking about the expansion of the service, Paul Nilson told the ECHO that it is “important to make it more enjoyable” for people who rely on the free food collections. The community kitchen inside will be fitted out with tables and provide a simple selection of free meals.
The café will be officially launched on Wednesday, April 19. A children's school breakfast club is also set to begin in the coming months before starting properly for the new term in September.
Paul told the ECHO: "It won’t be the most expensive range of meals, with soups on offer, but we will make all that be free in addition to the free food we give out. We’re not going to be in competition with the local cafes
“We will 100% be serving the neediest families in the community. We’ll add more to the offer as we go and there will be no paid element at any point..”
Commenting on the specific need for the service in the local area, Paul added: “The most needy families in our community were needy before Covid, before the cost of living crisis. Take this side of Dingle which has some of the most deprived streets in the city.
“The fact is that people don’t want to be coming here for free food. They are coming here because they have to come here.
“The need is so great. What was a problem two years ago is now a life threatening problem.”
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