This year Rev Irene Wilson and Jane Owen of Holy Trinity Church in Hull are trying something different for Lent.  Instead of giving up a food and going without they are challenging themselves to use up all the existing food in their cupboards and larders, only buying fresh goods when they really need to.

With a budget of only £10 per week to spend on the fresh goods, they aim to donate the savings from their weekly shop to Holy Trinity Church to go towards refitting a shop for volunteers.  Rev Iren Wilson said ”It’s going to be a real challenge thinking about how to use up those old jars and tins.  I’m determined not to waste anything and this will really show me how much I buy when I don’t really need to. That goes for the freezer too!”

Last year Jane tried this for the first time and was able to save £200 during lent to put towards Holy Trinity’s renovation work.  She says “The first couple of weeks are quite exciting, its like ready steady cook, you can use up things that are about to go out of date and make some really interesting dishes.  But when all you have left is brown rice, tuna and glace cherries it gets a bit tricky.

The idea is to use everything up and not necessarily replace it – when its gone its gone – and that includes tea and coffee! With a budget of only £10 per week expensive products can’t be afforded.  Irene says, “Not only will this challenge help me think of those who live on next to nothing, it hopefully will encourage me to spend more time reflecting and praying for the gifts that God gives us, free of charge to appreciate every day.”

If you want to support Jane and Irene or do something similar have a look at Holy Trinity’s twitter to see how they are getting on.