“I came to the Larder as a volunteer in 2022, and discovered a melting pot of people working together to create a wholeness that is uplifting, safe, satisfying. And I include the guests in this, as they come for food and friendship, each with their own story that gradually becomes familiar over time as you talk about their pets, their ambitions, the weather, or if the pudding was especially good that day. It is well known that everyone is welcome at the Larder, myself included, having experienced severe mental illness for a long time, I have been welcomed, accepted and loved during my time here, and it means so much to me that I can not only help, but feel needed. Thank you to everyone at Laurence’s Larder, you are amazing, I hope to keep being a part of your family.”

“I’ve been volunteering at Laurence’s Larder for many years and in many ways, from assembling pasta bakes, peeling onions, shelling peas, stocking the shelves, collecting food from local church (by bike) or bakery (by car), washing up, scraping burnt saucepans, playing the piano, being maitre d’ for late-arriving lunch guests, and compiling/administering the queue-list for food parcels - all of which has been both demanding and rewarding, and making one acutely aware of the lives of others in our community, a sometimes challenging, often humbling and always deeply connecting experience”