Puffins
St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School works with some of the most amazing young people but they are also amongst some of the poorest in the City of Cardiff. Many of our families subsist on low incomes and over one in three of our pupils receive free school meals. The pandemic taught us that our families can go hungry for all sorts of reasons ranging from loss of work or ill health to receiving an unexpected bill for a cooker that has suddenly blown or a fridge that has given up the ghost. That’s why we have launched Puffins to provide emergency access to fresh food and practical support for those in crisis.
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
About Puffins
Puffins was the vision of Ellie Williams, our previous Head of English. Ellie believed God was calling St Teilo’s to provide practical support for families who found themselves in immediate crisis. It was her firm conviction that no family should have to go hungry or be forced to face a crisis on their own. Ellie’s vision was of a pantry that would be there to support our families in practical ways. Ellie sadly died of cancer at the age of 37 in December 2019. Puffins is our way of capturing her kindness and honouring her desire to see our young people flourish.
Why ‘Puffins’?
Ellie never wanted the pantry to be named after her. She loved the outdoors and she particularly loved Puffins because of their sociability, colourfulness and their life-long faithfulness to one another. ‘Puffins’ seemed an apt name to give to this provision and we know that Ellie would have approved!
The Work of Puffins
We work alongside families by providing:
- A free daily breakfast to hundreds of children who would otherwise go hungry;
- An emergency fresh food Puffins parcel when the pay cheque does not arrive;
- A slow cooker for families to keep, with a supply of fresh ingredients and suggested menus for a period of six weeks or longer if needed;
- Supermarket vouchers to cover periods of school closure.
In addition, with the support of our friends from the Rotary Club of Cardiff, we also offer a backpack of food for children at risk of weekend hunger. These we hand out to pupils who make us aware that they face a weekend where they will be without access to food (for whatever reason - perhaps a sudden crisis in the family or a breakdown in a looked-after placement).
We also work with other partner agencies to:
- Provide qualifying vouchers for Cardiff Foodbank;
- Arrange access to organisations who provide white goods and household items; and
- Signpost to other food services for ongoing support.
How Puffins is funded
Puffins was initially funded through donations made at Ellie’s funeral. The on-going funding of our work is through the monthly giving of staff and friends of our school. We also work closely with Morrisons who support Puffins with subsidised fresh produce. The Rotary Club of Cardiff also support us by funding and preparing our backpack provision. If you would like to help us make sure that none of our families go hungry, then a regular or one-off gift would be most gratefully received.
Donate now
You can make an online one-off or a regular payment using the link below. We want our families to know that they 'are loved with an everlasting love' and that God embraces them 'with unfailing kindness' (Jeremiah 31:3).
Puffins: A partnership between St Teilo's Church in Wales High School and East Cardiff Ministry Area
Charity Number: 1136081