Home Is Where The Heart Is – It’s Not Just Lincolnshire…

Home is where the heart is and it’s not just Lincolnshire. A huge number of volunteers across the country have stepped up to lend their help during the pandemic.  They work in the community and from home. The whole nation supports their selfless actions and deeds.  I salute you all for your kindness and dedication.

Whether you use social media or not you must surely be aware of some fantastic initiatives across Lincolnshire. By touching on a few I can highlight the hard work that everyone is putting in.  Documenting a single initiative will highlight this and countless other selfless acts of kindness.  Too numerous to mention but they’re all happening daily.

Home Is Where The Heart Is – Charity Really Does Start At Home

Nerves of steel – I wonder how many onions Barry has had to chop in his kitchen?

Staff of the NHS, police, fire, first responders and others were asked to step up to the mark as lockdown was announced.  Many volunteers also sprang into action to lend a hand.

Barry is the head chef at The Pyewipe Inn Lincoln (2020) but found himself without customers thanks to the pandemic. That is until he teamed up with his neighbour Laurance to start cooking from home. Meals for the frontline services became their priority.

Let The Cooking Commence

Thankfully you don’t need a kitchen the size of a village hall to cook a thousand meals.  Cook from home in a domestic kitchen while spending no money and having no ingredients. That’s a pretty tall order!  Thankfully the generosity of local businesses and the public knows no bounds.

People have been so generous that Barry and Laurance managed to prepare and cook over a thousand meals. Staff at Lincoln County Hospital, Grantham Hospital, Sleaford fire and police crews, Nettleham police HQ, Metheringham fire station, ambulance crews and more. They all benefited from the skills and dedication of this duo.

The men behind the meals… You can find them on Twitter @LiversidgeBaz or click on this picture to find them on Facebook

I might have caved in after chopping my way through my second or third batch of onions so hats off to these guys.  They saw the queues at the supermarkets and experienced the empty shelves so decided to put their skills to good use. As a result they made it their priority to make sure our frontline services were fed.

Having food and ingredients delivered from The Pyewipe Inn, (Lincoln), The Old Angel Inn (Bardney), Jordans/Ryvita (Bardney) and Moy Park (Sleaford) to name just a few, the meals are produced at home then locals collect and deliver the meals to the front line workers.

Cooked and portioned

Lids and labels

Baked with love

Appreciated by all

Home Is Where The Heart Is – It’s Not Just About Feeding The Frontline

Taking meals to the workers isn’t just about making sure they are fed and able to do their job.  We struggled to get ingredients needed for our meals but we managed to get something.  Without doubt, showing a greater understanding and appreciation for the jobs and risks of key workers is paramount.

We all know what a fantastic job the NHS staff, police, fire crews and paramedics are doing during this difficult time. The key worker list is much bigger than that though.   The farmers in the picture would’ve been surprised to receive their free lunch but without them we won’t be getting fed in the future.

#StayHomeSaveLives is a very important message for most of us. Perhaps we tend to forget how many key workers still have to go to work to ensure we stay safe at home and have a future to look forward to.  It’s not just about the food. It’s also about the recognition and gratitude.  Being on the receiving end of a gift is always nice but in these difficult times it means so much more.

Home Is Where The Heart Is – Delivering 250 Meals Each Week

You don’t need to be too much of a mathematician to work out that delivering 250 meals a week will soon lead to 1000 delivered.  Actually, the 1000 milestone has already been reached. It won’t be long before we are looking at 1500.  The system relies on people delivering the raw ingredients with others collecting the cooked meals for distribution.  Logistically it must’ve been a headache and I’m sure the pressure has been high since day one.

The project would never have taken off without the enthusiasm of Barry and Laurance plus the support and generous food donations from Sarah Pickles (The owner of The Pyewipe Inn). Assistance in the kitchen by Julie Ann Clark who also helped to provide some of the fresh veg has been a great help.  You can visit Julies charity shop in Horncastle and visit her on Facebook too Thrifty’s Community Charity Shop.

Huge respect to everyone involved but especially to Barry and Laurance who had the vision, skill and foresight to make it all happen.

#LincsConnect Music

The Tin Pigeons are a duo from Rutland…

Being a music lover I follow quite a few local bands, orchestras and choirs so I thought you might like to hear what I’ve found.  I follow @TheTinPigeons on twitter and this one is from their back catalogue (click on the picture above to hear their song ‘Steel’). If you like what you hear why not nip across to their YouTube channel, give them a follow on twitter or Facebook 

Revivalry – A young band from Cleethorpes

Revivalry @RevivalryBand are a young up and coming band from Cleethorpes who I’ve also been following on Twitter. I’m really pleased to be able to post their first studio recording ‘Run’ here today.  I get the feeling this won’t be their last studio recording and it may well be the beginning of something rather big.  You can follow them on Twitter, Facebook or on their YouTube channel.  Enjoy

If you would like to hear more Indie bands you could give Dave a follow on Twitter @Laamb4 or better still give his website a visit https://www.laamb.co.uk where you’ll find an update for lots of local music and arts plus regular charts and much more:

“This site is dedicated to promoting Artists and Musicians in Lincolnshire. We aim to combine the marketing of local art and music, with features and sales of material produced within Lincolnshire.”

Click on the picture to go straight to the LAAMB website

That’s just about it for this edition but let me leave you with one more note.  Please keep it in mind and pass it on whenever you feel it’ll be appropriate:

Click on the picture to go straight to the website. If you know someone who may be affected call 0808 801 0327

Stay Safe