Mayor honours Pack Up’s Toni

Toni Parker (on the right in the front row) with the mayor and other winners of the Mayor’s Civic Award.

We are delighted that Toni Parker who runs Pack Up has been awarded the Mayor of Islington’s Civic Award. Pack Up has been providing free lunches for an increasing number of homeless and needy people at St James’ Hall every Monday since 2015.

Cllr Marian Spall, our mayor, said: ‘In Islington, we stand with our communities, and we celebrate the fantastic people who go above and beyond to improve the lives of others. Our community heroes are especially important at the moment as many people in the borough are struggling with rising costs of food and energy.’

Pack Up has also received finance from the Council’s Community Fund to replace the very old cooker in St James’ Hall. Clarion Housing is helping to replace some of the worn-out kitchen equipment, as well as financing Food and Safety training for volunteers. A grant from the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund is paying for a new fridge.

The Felix Project helps Pack Up by providing fresh food that cannot be sold, but they are suffering from a shortage of food suppliers, and with the cost of food rising so drastically, Pack Up’s volunteers are having to dig deeper into their funds of donations to buy the food they need.

Above: Pack Up volunteers in action at St James’ Hall

There is a good core of volunteers but anyone who can help in any way is always welcome. Toni would especially like to hear from trained chefs who can offer guidance to the volunteers, and anyone with IT skills who can produce posters and information leaflets. For more information on helping or donating, please email Toni at tonimep47@gmail.com.