Multi-Faith Communities Join Forces to Combat Loneliness on Blue Monday
Multi-faith communities in Cardiff are coming together to host a series of events which will tackle loneliness in their community. The Day of the Soup events are being organised as part of The Great Winter Get Together and launches on Blue Monday – dubbed the most depressing day of the year.
Day of the Soup has been organised by Fr Dean Atkins from St Mary’s Church Butetown and will involve multi-faith organisations from Grangetown, Splott and Butetown serving homemade soup based on recipes which relate to their heritage and family histories. The Great Winter Get Together is organised by the Jo Cox Foundation which brings communities together to promote a kinder and more tolerant world.
Butetown is noted as one of the UK’s first multicultural communities with people from over 50 countries and cultures finding sanctuary there in the early 20th century.
Rev’d Dean Atkins regularly works with local places of worship, schools and first, second and third-generation migrant communities. Day of the Soup reflects the local community so all recipes must be vegetarian so that they are available to everyone despite cultural and religious differences. Fr Dean said serving free soup is a simple way of extending a welcome to all who live in the local area regardless of race, religion or background.
He said, “Day of the Soup is about tackling isolation and loneliness and giving people the opportunity to get together and socialize. It offers people a way of finding out about each other’s history and heritage in a welcoming space. Soup is a cheap and nutritious food so it speaks to the cost-of-living crisis and helps provide a warm safe space for anyone in need of company. It’s a simple and effective way of bringing community together to celebrate diversity.”
...it only takes a few people to make a big difference
Each organisation, including Cardiff Synagogue, Islamic centre and three primary schools, will create and supply their own soup which will have a story or significance behind the recipe. St Mary’s Church will be contributing Spicy Carrot and Lentil Soup which has been a favourite at previous events and so is a constant link between all the church events across the years.
Fr Dean said, “We wanted to make a soup that didn't use many ingredients but tasted great to show what's possible from just a few inexpensive items. It’s a bit like community work - it only takes a few people to make a big difference!”
Fr Dean received funding to host the events from Cardiff Council which the participants can use for ingredients and equipment for the day.
The Day of Soup event will be held at the three locations of the churches in the ministry area: St Saviour’s Church Splott on Tuesday 17th January, St Mary’s Church Butetown on Tuesday 24th January and at St Paul’s Church Grangetown on Thursday 26th January.
Each event will run from 3pm to 4.30pm and include weather-dependent activities in and outside the churches with the opportunity to donate to local projects and causes.
Fr Dean is encouraged that this ‘Great Winter Get Together’ will inspire inter-faith and inter-denominational community and fun. He said, “The reason we are doing these events now is because of the seasonal isolation and loneliness and it ties into Blue Monday. So, it’s to bring that light and cheer and bring some hope and happiness to people - which is our calling. It’s our calling as Christians to contribute towards building up community life and building people’s lives.”
The Great Get Together is inspired by the late Jo Cox MP, who was killed on 16th June 2016. In her first speech in Parliament, Jo said, “We have more in common than that which divides us.” Events in Jo’s name, like the Day of Soup, now take place annually across the UK with the aim of building bridges, tackling loneliness and ‘showing the collective power we have as a community’. Go to https://www.greatgettogether.org/about to for more information and to find an event near you.