Serendipity Initiative and Neighbour's Kitchen thank Louth for their help

Founded and run by Paul Hugill, both the Serendipity Initiative and Neighbour's Kitchen, which operate from the Priory Hotel, were hit by flooding which occured overnight in Louth, as reported in last week’s Leader.

Rain damaged the roof of the centuries-old building, while flood water damaged their cellar causing all of the power to shut off and meant that guests had to be evacuated.

It has also meant that the Neighbour’s Kitchen project, which was launched during the first coronavirus lockdown and provide thousands of meals to vulnerable people in the community, has also been affected as they had to throw out an entire freezer full of food.

But Paul and the team were thrilled by the way the community rallied round to help restock their cupboards, as within 24 hours of a social media post going out appealing for help, the cupboard was full again.

Paul said: “We've got such incredible neighbours here and it's amazing to see just how far people will go to help each other. It's wonderful to see.”

Despite refilling their cupboards so quickly, there is a never-ending cycle as last Saturday, their fresh food produce was emptied by people in need, and then refilled by produce donated by well-wishers, seven times and the initiative is still in need of supplies.

Conscious of the current cost of living crisis, Paul is only asking people to donate what they feel they are able to and begging people not to put themselves out or spend too much money.

He said: “If people could make a very small contribution rather than spending lots – just buying one extra tin of beans or one extra bag of apples can make all the difference and just £1 will buy us a couple of boxes of cereal.

“We are so grateful for the way people have responded and to see strangers helping each other out was really inspiring – there's real magic in this town.”