Power workers cook for homeless shelter in Crawley

The team cooked lunch for 26 residents at the busy hostel, which supports people sleeping rough across Sussex towns, including Crawley, East Grinstead, Horsham and Haywards Heath.

They made a vegetarian curry and lasagne in the charity’s kitchen through Donate a Day, which gives all employees two paid days per year for volunteering. The charity welcomes volunteer support in the kitchen throughout the year.

Organiser, Clair Hunt, an accountant with UK Power Networks, said: “I’d never cooked for 26 people before, so it was a bit scary, but we managed it as a team.

“Some of the team planned the recipes and some of us did the shopping, then we came together for a big cook.

“Homelessness is a growing problem and use of food banks is increasing, so it felt good to do something positive to help. Donate a Day is a really good thing to do and we should try to give back as much as we can.

“Crawley Open House is so close to our offices and we were delighted to support a local charity. It was a very successful day. They loved the vegetable biriyani and lasagne. The homemade onion bhajis were a big success. It was a good team effort.”

Paul Yiu, from Crawley Open House, said: “We are grateful to have the team who cooked for our residents and staff yesterday. It is not every day we get to serve a cooked lunch at the hostel. We also appreciate that they spent the time and learned a little about what we do for those experiencing homelessness.”

UK Power Networks provided £200 for the shopping and any money leftover was spent on bottled water to support those experiencing homelessness.

The Crawley shelter is home to 55 people who would otherwise sleep rough across Sussex towns. It is the only high support residential homeless shelter across a 25-mile radius and is constantly in demand.

To support the charity’s work, visit the Crawley Open House website www.crawleyopenhouse.co.uk