Bourne Mum of three Bea Maskery, who offers free hot meals on Facebook, launches UK-wide initiative Cooking For Kindness
A crisis helpline responder is determined to help feed more people after her good deeds inspired many.
Bea Maskery, from Bourne, has been providing free hot meals to those who need them since January by advertising them on the ‘Bourne Rural Lincs, Lincolnshire’ Facebook group.
The mum-of-three has now taken her initiative a step further, by launching her own page called Cooking For Kindness which has gained almost 600 members in just one week, some of which have already started offering out food.
She said the page will provide a place for others to follow in her footsteps by giving them the chance to post if they have an extra meal to spare, creating a nationwide campaign against hunger.
“I am a huge advocate for mental health support,” she said.
“I struggle myself, so I am very aware that food is an integral part of taking care of your mind and feeling good about yourself.”
Many communities in Lincolnshire other than Bourne have benefitted from Bea’s meals, including people in Stamford and Spalding, so she hopes she can influence people even further afield.
“If everybody started doing this, nobody in this country would go hungry, and we would all be so much happier,” she added.
According to collection company Waste Managed, each person in the UK wastes around 70 kg of food per year - the equivalent of 140 meals.
It costs Bea an extra £1-£2 to buy additional ingredients for two or three more meals a day which has recently been able to be paid for through a GoFundMe page that helps her carry on the work she is doing.
The page gained £1,127 in two days which will go a long way for Bea, who says she is part of a low-income household herself.
“People are so generous,” she said.
“It just means I can continue to cook for the people of Bourne who need it, without worrying about where I am going to find the extra money for it.”
The Cooking For Kindness page can be found here.
Would you consider doing something like this? Let us know in the comments.
