York Hoping Street Kitchen Easter bunny hands out eggs

As The Press reported yesterday, Hoping Street Kitchen in the city issued a plea for Easter Eggs to give out as part of their holiday celebrations on Easter Sunday and they were overwhelmed by the response.

In recent months, growing numbers of families have turned to Hoping for hot meals to feed their children - and helpers said they were worried these children would miss out on traditional fun treats.

The Hoping bunnies out in York city centre (Image: Hoping)

One of Hoping's volunteers, Jayne Venables, said: "Our Hoping Easter Bunny handed out Easter Eggs to our diners then went on walk about, hopping onto a tour bus and encountering a wild lion in Exhibition Square.

"It was a fun afternoon all round.

"Hope is the big treat for our families in need. We all love chocolate but the eggs we share, thanks to these businesses and York people, are more than colour and fun, they’re a symbol of hope at Easter.

"That’s what we pass on from the public to disadvantaged children, struggling parents and vulnerable adults on the street - hope.”

Volunteer Peter Lister, singer-songwriter with an Easter serenade (Image: Hoping)

The street kitchen serves hot meals every Sunday, from 2.30pm until 4pm in King’s Manor Garden in Exhibition Square. Warm hats, scarves and gloves, with thermal blankets and pocket thermal sleeping bags are also available, along with toiletries and dog food.

The Hoping volunteers (Image: Hoping)

In the lead up to Christmas last year, Morrisons at Foss Islands Road had their annual Christmas fundraiser Giving Tree for charity - and their chosen charity was Hoping.

Customers were encouraged to donate £1,£2 or £5.

The store's Community Champion, Wendy Davis, said: “I am thrilled and extremely grateful to our customers."

In total, £1,340 was raised for Hoping through the scheme.

Helen Meadows added: “We were overwhelmed by the generosity of Morrisons customers and the kindness of Wendy and the team for selecting us as their chosen charity.

Morrisons, Foss Islands also support Hoping weekly with foodbank donations.

Hoping were awarded Best Community Project 2022 at The Press Community Pride Awards. 

The Easter Bunny costume was loaned from the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city, which was initially set up to help those in need through the pandemic, including NHS staff, has been inundated to the point that they have run out of food on several occasions recently.

The food bank is run by John McGall who, for the past 15 years has dedicated his time voluntarily to help improve the lives of the homeless, disabled and less fortunate people in York.

John said the food bank was  open all over Easter and handed out hundreds of meals and donations. 

"A very big thank you to everyone who donated," he said.