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82 year old's food bank fundraiser inspired by Occupation Red Cross efforts

Tom du Feu (centre) with (l-r) Vini Jones (The Grace Trust foodbank), Peter Farrell (St Vincent de Paul foodbank) & Capt Alice Nunn ( The Salvation Army Pantry Store)

82-year-old Tom du Feu's Liberation Walk - inspired by the memories of SS Vega's Red Cross Food Parcels during the Occupation - raised £3,000.

In May, Tom du Feu, a former Constable of St Peter who is living with cancer, walked from St Aubin to the Vega Memorial on the Albert Pier at St Helier harbour to raise money for people in Jersey struggling with food poverty.

He was inspired by memories of the arrival of the SS Vega with Red Cross Food Parcels to help starving islanders towards the end of the Occupation during the Second World War.

The Swedish Red Cross ship visited the Channel Islands six times with lifesaving food parcels and medical supplies, first arriving in Jersey  - which had been completely cut off  - on 30 December 1944. 

 Tom Du Feu Credit: Salvation Army - Jersey

Mr du Feu’s Liberation Walk raised £3,000 through sponsorship and donations.

The money is being divided equally between the three food banks and food programmes in the island – The Grace Trust and St Vincent de Paul food banks, and The Salvation Army Pantry Store, a heavily subsidised grocery shop.

Mr du Feu says that islanders struggling to make ends meet have not been left in the past:

"Late '44 and '45, the island was on its knees with starvation. 80 years have lapsed since and sadly, we're still in the same plight for too many people over here. 

"It was really prompted by the fact that there were the 80 years celebrations going on - and it seems that everybody possibly forgets what it represents, the very difficult and stressful times at the end of the war. 

"We constantly hear about the millions that are rolling around all over the place, it's high time that somebody got hold of that and prevented these hard times for a lot of people.

"On the walk, I had about a couple of dozen people joining me and I was very heartened. 

"Not a bad plug for an 82-year-old!"

Yesterday (9 July), each food bank received a cheque for £1,000 from Mr Du Feu.

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