Caring Coins needs your support to feed children this summer

​The community café is located at 10a Upper Edward Street, Newry, and the breakfast club started yesterday (June 25) and will run until August 31, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am until 2pm.

“This summer we know that children are going to go hungry if we don't do something about it,” said Kerrie Havern, the co-founder of Caring Coins.

“The Big Summer Breakfast Club was set-up primarily to replace the school meal which children will miss from not being in school. We're hoping to provide tea, toast, cereal, porridge, Weetabix, beans and juices, so that at least once a day there is something for them to eat.

“Nobody will be turned away. We would like the atmosphere to be very upbeat and happy.”

Kerrie says that with many families struggling financially, the need for a service like this has become apparent.

“The need to do the breakfast club came about when there was a child in the Imaginarium who the staff were following around because stuff kept falling out of his pockets.

“When they went over to investigate, it turned out that the child had taken a handful of potatoes from his school dinner, so that he would have something to eat that night.”

Caring Coins was created in 2020 to help people during the Covid pandemic, however, they quickly realised that the need for their help in the local community was greater than they envisaged.

“We are a grassroots charity, which started with a bucket at my front door in 2020,” Kerrie explained.

“It was a direct response to Covid, to raise money for the NHS. When we started, we didn't realise that the need for us would be so big.

“That first Christmas during lockdown, we heard of 500 local families who needed help, so we went door-to-door with orange buckets and hi-vis vests from B&Q and asked people to donate their loose change.

“After that, we realised that the need was going to be a continued need.

“So, we began in 2020, we were constituted in 2021 and, on the strength of our work, we received our charity status less than a year later, in January 2022.

“We opened our café in 2023 to help fight against social isolation.”

Prices in the café are very low, such as toasties for £3, Cappuccinos for £2, and pancake platters for £2.20.

But in order to sustain these low prices, Caring Coins relies on the support and generosity of those who donate.

Kerrie is appealing for any businesses with the means to donate, to do so.

“There will be as many people using the service that need, as there will be people who can afford to donate to it.

“About 40 per cent of Newry are facing hunger. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean that it's not there.

“We need to do something about it and that's where we have stepped up.

“The tag-line for Caring Coins is 'our community is our responsibility'. The community café is open Tuesday to Saturday and it’s open to the public.

“The reason we are able to set our prices so low is to make it affordable to all, but that means that we need more customers who can afford to come in to us, to make sure that we can sustain the service.

“Different businesses within the town have got in touch with us to donate to this, so we're very lucky to have their support.”

Unfortunately, stories such as this one bring up a wider question in terms of the current cost of living crisis, what can people do and how will things get better?

“I think people have been very let down,” said Kerrie.

“It feels like people have been forgotten about.

“It’s not on, that in this day and age that a charity has to step up to take care of people in the community because we can't see anybody else doing it, aside from the other charities who we work with.

“The charities around here are the lifeline for people.”

Caring Coins needs your help! They estimate that they will need to raise £10,000 to run the service. If you are a business owner who would like to help Caring Coins, you can donate to them via bank transfer:

Account Name: Caring Coins Association

Account No: 17834912

Sort Code: 98-00-60

Or contact Kerrie at: +447491825523