10 years of Micah
This week on 14th February Micah Liverpool will mark the very 10 year anniversary of the foodbank being opened at St Brides church. On 14th February 2013, Hope+ (later becoming Micah Liverpool) opened its doors to help support those struggling with their finances.
This small social action project has become one of the largest food banks in the country; on the 2nd of February, we gave 257 food parcels. We don’t like to celebrate when we give a huge number of food parcels as it’s not something to be joyous about, but the amount of support both Hope+ and Micah Liverpool has received over the past ten years must be celebrated.
Thank you’s must go out to all of our supporters, specifically Liverpool Cathedral and its congregation, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the king and St Brides Church.
As well as being Canon Chancellor I am Chair of Trustees of Micah Liverpool. It has been a privilege to chair this charity since it emerged from the amazing work begun 10 years ago by Hope+. The social action of our charity has been undertaken by a diligent group of trustees, practical volunteers, fundraisers, donors, supporters, guests, staff members and the other roles undertaken by so many. For this we are so grateful.
Our charity is inspired by the Old Testament passage from the book of the prophet Micah 6.8.
‘What does the Lord require of you: to do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with your God’
These principles of justice, mercy and humility are essential to all of the work we share together. We do this in the name of Jesus - And this work is ecumenical - our partners are The Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, St Luke in the City parish and ourselves at Liverpool Cathedral. We are indeed Better Together!
So, thank you for your support these 10 years. Although we pray that justice will come and we will see food insecurity end, we hope that together we will continue to act with mercy for many years to come.
I’m now going to hand over to our Executive Director Paul O’Brien who will tell you more about the work of Micah Liverpool.
Rev Canon Dr Ellen Loudon
Initially when the charity was created the plan was to make ourselves redundant within a few years, which sadly hasn’t happened. In 2013 nobody could have foresaw the dramatic geopolitical shifts that have led to Micah growing and growing and growing. The refugee crisis in 2013 was the first catalyst that forced the growth of the charity, many more asylum seekers followed but a global pandemic, war in Afghanistan and Ukraine as well as huge rises in the cost of living domestically have meant that Micah Liverpool are far from making ourselves redundant.
There have been so many people who have made this ten year anniversary possible, but big thanks must go to Cynthia and Nadine for setting up and establishing the Foodbank pantry session based at St Brides a decade ago. Alongside Nadine Daniel and Rev. Canon Cynthia Dowdle, the trustees of Hope+ & Micah Liverpool both past and present must recognised for their great contribution to the charity, supporting both Nadine and I in what has been a very turbulent 10 years. The two groups who need to be thanked most are our donors and our volunteers, without whom Hope+/Micah Liverpool could not have done any of the work we have. It’s the people who have ensured that our work has endured for ten years. Passion, commitment and hard work ultimately has led to ten years of social justice.
The plan is still to make ourselves redundant, eradicate food poverty, work towards full employment and develop strong communities. We now have to work so much harder just to support the people in our communities now, but we recognise that that a key part of our work must also be to lobby and campaign for social justice for all in our community. We don’t look forward to the next ten years but hopefully were not needed in the next decade.
Paul O'Brien
Executive Director – Micah Liverpool