Deliveries of free Sunday lunches will be made across Thanet from next weekend (April 5) by volunteers from Margate Mantra Lounge and the 101 Social Club in Cliftonville.
The scheme stems from the free vegan Sunday lunch gatherings initially set up by former Chatham House student and Hare Krishna follower Mantra Chaitanya das.
The 35-year-old and wife Hema Mukhi, plus some volunteers from his yoga and meditation group at Margate’s Beet Bar, have been running the free vegetarian meal and meditation Sundays at the 101 Social Club in Cliftonville.
Following the strict measure brought in by the government to stem the spread of coronavirus, the club has shut but the free meals continue.
Former musician Mantra, who also runs Margate Mantra Lounge free yoga and meditation sessions, says he is working with Food For All UK, and Franca Pip Pauli and Dario Colombo from the 101 club to get free vegetarian meals and meditation packs to those that need them not just in Margate but now across the isle.
Mantra said: “We are now delivering all the meals and doing our meditation session on facebook live.
“It looks as though this is going to be a relatively long term situation and we have had people asking to volunteer which means we can expand and do deliveries across Thanet.
“Myself and my wife are doing the cooking and Dano and Frankie are facilitating deliveries. We have three volunteers and three more who are due to join us.
“We are also doing the guided meditations from 2pm-3pm on facebook live and then a talk and Q&A. Many people are saying that we are on the brink of a mental health crisis, which is arguably every bit as important as the virus itself. So there will also be free meditation packs for people to use in order to help deal with isolation.
“Our next steps are to extend this service to Canterbury and we are currently in the process of setting up the same for our local NHS staff. “
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Mantra added: “We can feed a lot of people, but as the weeks go by we are going to need a lot of donations as demand inevitably increases, so we are trying to encourage people to give what they can, even though they may be feeling the pinch themselves right now.”
If you or someone you know in Thanet would like to sign up for a free meal then register for the no contact deliveries at https://www.harekrishnacanterbury.com/free-sunday-lunches
If you are able to help with a donation click the same link for more information.