London, Thanasis Gavos

The opening of the charity’s new facilities took place in London on Thursday Olive Branch Aidwhich has been operating for three years under its auspices Archdiocese of Thyatira and Great Britain.

It is a food bank set up by volunteers with the aim of providing food to the needy, based until now in the hall of the church of St. Nektarios in Battersea, South London.

The decision to establish the charity was made in the context of the increased needs caused by the pandemic in local communities of every religion and belief, nationality or cultural identity.

The new premises, also in Battersea, enable Olive Branch Aid to now provide not only a food parcel to anyone who needs it, but also advice, support and even skills development courses to those who want it.

More specifically, it provides for learning arithmetic, writing and reading, as well as the English language, as well as training in money management and understanding utility bills. The emphasis of the counseling services provided is generally on issues of housing, work, benefits, health services and domestic violence.

The organisation’s services are aimed at schools, families and individuals from the surrounding boroughs of Lambeth, Sadark, Croydon and Wadsworth.

The inauguration was performed by the Archbishop of Thyatira and Great Britain Mr. Nikitas, in the presence of the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to the UK Andreas Kakouris and the Consul of Greece in London Christos Goulas.

The co-head of Olive Branch Aid’s commissioners of administration, Sonia Antoniou-Pamed, said that last year the food aid provided by the organization corresponded to at least 61 thousand people per day.

“However, demand is increasing,” he continued. “Honestly, a food package, however welcome, is simply not enough to solve very real long-term problems.

“As we open our new facilities we are excited to present our plans to offer additional assistance beyond food parcels. It’s unfortunate that they still need us, but we know we need to step up our efforts as we hear every day the complex difficulties faced by those who use our services.”

As Ms. Antoniou-Parment explained, the organization leveraged a generous anonymous donation to move to larger facilities and train its volunteers to expand the services and support provided.

He sent a call to interested volunteers to get in touch with the organization.

The other head of the administration commissioners of Olive Branch Aid is the archpriest of the temple of Agios Nektarios Christodoulos Christodoulou.