The Big Breakfast Plus Swindon – feeding the hungry in Swindon since 1993. And now doing it seven days a week! What follows is an account of a typical Big Breakfast Plus volunteer shift.
It’s 7am and the cafe area of The PilgrimCentre is already a hive of activity. The Wednesday team at Big Breakfast Plus Swindon are busy preparing for the arrival of the guests.
In the kitchen, the cook is preparing bacon and sausages. Meanwhile beans and tinned tomatoes are heating in the microwave, and the six-slice toaster is churning out toast.
Outside, the front of house are setting up tables, sorting cereals, squash and preparing to start making teas, coffees and hot chocolate. At 7.30 the doors open and the initial rush is on. Guests get their cereal and drinks and find a table and we take orders.
Team work
The queen of the pass lets the rest of the team know what she needs: three eggs on plates; two eggs in a takeaway box; double scrambled eggs. It’s all plated up and delivered to the guests at their tables. The standard full breakfast consists of sausage, bacon, beans, tomatoes, egg and toast. By 8am, the team have served around thirty guests.
Preferences catered for
At the Big Breakfast Plus Swindon we cater for guests’ preferences. No tomatoes is the most common request but also extra bacon or sausage or extra toast. There are also vegetarian and gluten free options. This week, there isn’t any fancy bread (donated by supermarkets) so there’s no posh toast. After 8am, things slow down a bit. Some guests linger to chat, have another cup of tea or coffee.
There may be time to prepare things for the next day. The milk delivery arrives and the sausage women drops off another box of sausages. By 8.45am it’s onto takeaways with people drifting in. Then, just before 9am the last two orders go out – sausages and beans as the bacon has run out.
At 9am the doors shut, the last guests disappear and the team finish tidying up. We clean the kitchen down and wipe the tables. We clean the toilets leaving everything spick and span for Thursday.
The shift has fed sixty-four guests, about average for a Wednesday at the moment. That equates to around 100 sausages, 100 bits of bacon and 100 rounds of toast, as well as seventy-five eggs, fifteen cans of beans and twelve cans of tomatoes. The shift also got through eight litres of milk.
In September 2023, Big Breakfast served 1506 breakfasts, compared to 871 in September 2022.
The full Big Breakfast plus English
Charitable works
Big Breakfast Plus is a charity that provides a free hot breakfast to those in need. It started out in 1993 as the Broadgreen Breakfast Club. Following the COVID pandemic, Big Breakfast reopened in the Pilgrim Centre in January 2021.
Chris, who has been volunteering since earlier this year said, ‘I love my Wednesday morning shift. It’s great to be part of this team. We have a lot of fun as well as making sure we give all our guests a pleasant experience and a full tummy.’
Angela, the shift lead, said, ‘As lead volunteer, my role is to assign tasks to ensure the smooth running of the service. This is an easy job with the Wednesday team as they all fit together like a well oiled machine. They’re a terrific group of people who work their socks off to provide breakfast in a calm, welcoming atmosphere. As our guest numbers have increased, they’ve taken the extra work in their stride and continued to create a warm, safe place. I feel lucky to be part of such a great team and leave every Wednesday service with a smile of my face and spring in my step.’
Non-judgemental service
Wayne, the service co-ordinator, said, ‘At Big Breakfast Plus we provide a warm welcome and a safe space for our guests to have a freshly cooked free breakfast. We pride ourselves on providing a non-judgemental service and are open to anyone who is struggling or in need of some hot food. As service co-ordinator, I’m responsible for organising our fifty fantastic volunteers.
I’m so inspired by the volunteers who give up their spare time to help others. We’re lucky to have the support of Zurich Community Trust, 10 greenbottles and Helen Brownings – who provide us with vital financial grants and food supplies. When we move to 7 day opening in November, we are going to be serving a whopping 400 breakfasts a week.’
Community Engages With Light Trail. The Enchanted Gardens Light Trail that is. With much excitement South Swindon Parish Council reveal for the community more information about the Enchanted Gardens Light Trail. It’s taking place at the Town Gardens through December 2023.
From Friday, December 1st to Sunday, December 24th, the trail promises to show Swindon’s creativity and love for the arts. That’ll be through graceful display of woodland lights and interactive illuminations.
Refreshment Opportunities
The Parish Council is proud to have partnered with Friends of Old Town. They’re organising wonderful food and drink vendors for for visitors to the light trail to sample. Providing a variety of food we have:
Stockers
Mamas Desserts
Sugar Shack Bakery
The Tuppenny and Town Gardens Café
The promotion of local businesses presents a great opportunity for our community to get to know the faces behind our local high street businesses. There’ll also be local entertainment throughout the event from our well-loved Town Gardens bandstand. We’ll have a range of performers, including:
Members of Swindon Makerspace, a not-for-profit based in Cheney Manor, are collaborating on a design for a unique selfie-spot. You’ll find that within the bandstand area of the trail.
Swindon Makerspace is proud to collaborate with South Swindon Parish Council at this year’s light trail as an example to show what anyone can come along and make. Several of our members joined together to make this project happen. They did so with skills across many of the disciplines we have at the Makerspace. They range from wood work, metal work, laser cutting, electronics and craft to name a few.’
Creativity abounds
The creative talent amongst South Swindon’s young people will be on full display in the Rose Garden this winter, with their handcrafted lanterns exhibited above the flora.
Students from Lethbridge, Croft, Lawn Primary, Holy Family, Badbury Park, as well as residents of Bow Court, have participated in workshops this half-term, created and facilitated by South Swindon Parish Council’s youth worker. The workshops have focused on Swindon’s diverse community and the cultural celebrations that the local community engage in. Young people have been encouraged to decorate their lanterns in response to the question, ‘what do festive celebrations mean to you?
Loreli Huntley, youth worker of the South Swindon Parish Council said:
‘Over the past two weeks I’ve engaged with five schools and the youth club in the Parish with lantern workshops for the Enchanted Garden Light Trail. The theme for the lanterns is ‘Festive Celebrations’. We asked the children to draw designs that they connect with around this festive time. There are designs around Christmas, Diwali, Hannukah and fireworks. All boast bright colours. It excited the children to take part in the activity. They can’t wait to see their designs installed in the rose garden.’
Accessibility
The Enchanted Gardens Light Trail is completely step-free and designed to be accessible to all in the community. For those who might benefit from reduced noise and visual effects, the Parish Council have organised a ‘quiet evening’ on Monday 11 December. On this day, we’ll lower the music volume and either turn off or reduce in intensity the flashing effects. There’ll be a mobile toilet with hoist and changing table will be on site for this event. Please bring your own sling if you wish to use the hoist – www.revolootion.org.uk
Ticketing
There’ll be a limited number of tickets available for the Enchanted Gardens Light Trail. We have allocated time slots every 15 minutes, starting from 5pm.
John Firmin, Chair of the events working party at South Swindon Parish Council said:
‘We’re pleased that, as part of this year’s light trail we have community involvement through the lanterns designed by local schools. Local food and beverage businesses will provide refreshments. And there will be a new light installation provided by Swindon Makerspace.’
Tickets cost £13.00 for adults and £7.00 for children (aged 5-17 years). Under 4s and carers/assistants may attend free of charge with a paying ticket holder.
Swindon Borough Council invites you to attend a public event about Swindon’s heritage and plans for its future.
Cllr Jim Robbins, the leader of Swindon Borough Council and the Cabinet member for heritage, arts and culture, Cllr Marina Strinkovsky will host the event. From it they’ll launch a wider consultation to inform the Council’s future heritage strategy.
When, where, etc
When: 6pm on Monday 27 November 2023
Where: UTC Swindon on Bristol Street, SN1 5ET
Transport: Bus services 1, 19, 22, 5, 10, 55 drop off on Bristol Street. You can park in the Bristol Street carpark.
For 20 years, Swindon Borough Councillors implemented a ‘We know best’ attitude towards Swindon’s heritage and culture, while trying to convince us that such things are liabilities, not assets and opportunities.
They abandoned museums and sports centres; wanted to sell off or spoil listed buildings; tried to block new Listings; tried to derail (at the last minute) an international XTC convention organised by volunteers; and much more besides. But – worst of all – they went out of their way to bully and/or discredit anybody who showed concern, tried to promote pride in our past or just disagreed with what they were doing.
So, Swindon folk: don’t miss this chance to finally have your say.
And amen to that! You’re being given a chance to have your say. USE IT.
Vodka – one of the few spirits that I’ll drink on the odd occasion. Though, in general, I’m more about the wine, the beer and the Champagne. In my youth I’d often have a vodka and lime when I’d had enough beer. Blimey – I couldn’t do it now. I can’t bear gin, so if I’m in a cocktail mood then it has to be rum based or have the eponymous spirit as a base.
So what is vodka? Well, it’s a clear, distilled, alcoholic drink, composed, in the main, of water and ethanol. Different varieties of this particular spirit originated in Poland, Russia and Sweden. By tradition, it’s made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes. Though some modern brands use corn, sugar cane, fruits, honey, and maple sap as the base.
The 1700s saw the drink introduced into Europe.
Alcohol content
From the 1890s onwards, standard vodkas became 40% alcohol by volume. The European Union established a minimum alcohol content of 37.5% for the spirit. While vodka in the United States must have a minimum alcohol content of 40%.
How to drink it
Tradition dictates that one takes one’s vodka neat – not even on the rocks. In what’s known as the vodka best of Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine, it’s often served freezer chilled. And of course, we use it in cocktails and mixed drinks. Drinks such as Vodka Martini (shaken not stirred?), Cosmopolitan, vodka tonic, screwdriver, greyhound, Black or White Russian, Moscow Mule, the Bloody Mary and a Caesar.
And now of course we have flavoured spirits – and that lets me segue into mentioning a Swindon business that I’ve come across on Instagram: Tipple Tree
About Tipple Tree
Well, #obvs they sell the spirt that’s the focus of this post – but they sell other flavoured spirits too.
Their website tells us that they make delicious infusions of fine spirits with exciting flavours, using authentic ingredients, blending each delectable concoction by hand.
Two Tipple Tree flavoured vodka drinks feeling festiveTipple Tree at the recent Christmas fair at Swindon’s Double Tree Hilton
Three West Swindon writers collaborate. Angela Atkinson, Frances Bevan and Roger Ogle have come together to author a book all about West Swindon, where all three live.
It began as a small-scale project between Angela and Roger, chronicling a number of the interesting buildings in the Western Expansion. With mention of those that no longer exist. But it was soon obvious that there was so much more to tell about the area. So the pair decided to bring in local historian, Frances Bevan.
Said Angela:
‘We realized that, to to do West Swindon proper justice, we had to include the stories of Lydiard House, its farms and St Mary’s church. Thus involving Frances Bevan was a simple a no-brainer, thanks to the painstaking research and writing she’s already done. Otherwise we’d have been re-inventing the wheel.’
It’s quite a common perception that West Swindon is a soulless, urban conurbation offering nothing very much. Well aside from easy access to the M4. Yet as this book reveals, there’s rich history there. Indeed, the story stretches way back before the modern development, and before the St. John family hunted the parkland around our much-loved Lydiard House. The Romans lived and died – and made bricks in this area.
West Swindon Book Covers
Weaving a tapestry
The authors have woven a rich tapestry of West Swindon. It starts with its Roman beginnings and goes through to the how and why of the western expansion, the name of the area almost fifty years ago as the first residents arrived. Forming part of the tapestry’s pattern are public art and open spaces, ancient hedgerows and the selection of street names. It’s rounded off with a focus on some of the more striking and interesting 20th century buildings that West Swindon boasts. The book’s also richly illustrated with interesting, and some rarely seen, photographs.
The authors are launching the book at the Village Inn in Shaw village centre, West Swindon, on Tuesday 14thNovember from 6pm to 9pm. They’re offering the book at a special launch offer price of £13.
They’re also planning a couple of promotional events at the West Swindon Centre. But they haven’t yet confirmed dates for those.
If you live in West Swindon the authors will deliver the book to you free of charge. If you’re further afield, there’s a £2 P&P charge.
