A local community group have been serving coffee and cake to raise awareness of sexual health wellbeing in the community.
Salford Food Parcel serve the community every Wednesday, fighting food poverty, whilst also aiming to educate and change lives in the area.
The community group will also host one session every month that will have a theme and focus to help benefit those who attend, with this month’s focus being on promoting sexual health.
The session was held today for Mitzvah Day in Salford(Wednesday 18 December), a day when Jewish people give their time to help others.
The event for sexual health was used following on from the awareness raised on World AIDS Day 2024.
Throughout the session, they were offering members of the community a chance to seek advice and support with the aim of encouraging a positive relationship to sexual health.
The session was led by “two progressively Jewish, Queer, and Disabled friends”, Owen and Pete, who have been working together to support marginalised members of the Salford community.
The pair host the sessions weekly with Salford Food Parcels at the Emmanuel Church Centre on Langworthy Road, hoping to support the community and make positive change.
This was shared by Owen Power, he said: “We operate here every Wednesday, and we cater to people’s needs and want to be helpful.
“We want to individualise each person, so we can help them and serve them. We don’t just give them a parcel, we give them choices and encourage them to change things for their dietary needs.
“One of the thing we have introduced is pastoral care, and although it sounds religious it isn’t, we are here to provide additional support.”
The support has been offered for over 15 years with pastoral care helping provide food to the local community, but this session aimed to educate those in attendance.
“Once a month, we are hosting this coffee and cake, and each month we are going to do a different theme, like information on vaccinations, and we focused on HIV testing, benefit advice, and how to cook.”
“Cooking is another part of food poverty, as if you can’t cook you will only eat processed foods and not access fruits and vegetables. This is all about going the extra-mile.”
Owen continued to explain the choice by education on sexual health, as he continued: “One thing we feel strongly passionate about is, particularly in Salford, is the promotion of sexual wellbeing.
“It is something that isn’t spoken about enough, and is a barrier that we need to breakdown and educate people about sexual health.”
This is vital as the sexual health report published by the UK Health Security Agency revealed that Salford’s residents diagnosed with HIV per 1,000 people aged 15 to 59 years in 2022 more than double the national average.
Figures show the rate in England is two per 1,000 residents aged 15 to 59 years, while, Salford’s rate is 4.8 per 1,000 residents aged 15 to 19 years.
Salford’s rate is the second highest in the North West, with Manchester’s rate of 5.8 being the highest – showing the importance of promoting sexual wellbeing awareness.
Preparing for @MitzvahDay in Salford! @petecsimms @jessica_pathak @WilsonNkurunzi4 @Michele4PandC @CllrJWarmisham @SaraRad67 @BoardofDeputies @CTStuartDiamond @JewsInYork @JayDProsser @LiberalJudaism @SiRothstein @ShoneLaurie @THTorguk @RichardAngell @RabCharley @shofarbymenorah… pic.twitter.com/w4lguEE56L
— Owen Power (@OwenOwenpower) December 11, 2024
Owen continued: “Myself and Peter run this, and we are both disabled Jewish men, who are gay. We know a lot of about exclusion and we want to promote social action.
“We are planning to do something every month, that will aim to make a difference to people’s lives. We feel so strongly about making a difference.
“We offer the coffee and cake with the encourage people to feel at home, and welcome by us.”
The Salford Food Parcels have been running for 15 years, and was set up Pete’s mother, as he said: “My inspiration for this is a background of poverty, we want to support everyone and act a safe space.”
Pete continued: “We provide food but we also provide free condoms. We want to ensure sexual health, and if you are on a limited budget you are very unlikely to pay for contraception.
“As a group we recognise that you may have a problem but we are here for you. The best way to think of us are a family, and we want to look after all our family members.”
The weekly sessions will continue to provide support to the community next year, and will look at new ways to help promote a positive lifestyle.
More information about Salford Food Parcels can be found here.
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