To make my narrative more coherent and to fully understand what is happening within the context of my narrative, I have decided to put myself in my narrative as a character. I will be a student who is volunteering to help with the society and become one of the members so I can understand and give back to the community. My developed narrative below is written in first person and highlights that although not every member in the society is personally experiencing food poverty, some may be experiencing loneliness and want that feeling of community, especially in a post-covid world, so there are mixture of members, some of which are just volunteering to help those in need.
Project Narrative
I am a month into joining the society and I already feel like a member. There is a real sense of community and spirit among the members here, something I have not seen or felt in a long time. The members are made up of the residents of the surrounding areas, most of which are from Margate, Thanet and Folkestone. The coastal areas that are full of people in absolute and relative poverty. It is these people that the society is made up of and support, a place where they can come and feel a part of the community without prejudice or discrimination. A place to ensure that they are fed and do not go home hungry.
It is Sunday, Banquet day and the house is full of people talking laughing and eating wholesome and healthy food that has been cooked together and shared out amongst everyone. Everyone eats and talks enjoying the feast while wearing their red robes so there is a sea of red swarming the banquet hall bringing colour and life to the old wooden walls. I wear my hooded robe face closed. We do this for our own dignity, to keep our identity hidden it makes everyone feel more equal and united.
Although the society is aimed at helping those who are struggling, the society is open to all anyone who wants to help and volunteer, myself included. I come to help bring fresh food each week and help once or twice a week at the front of house fresh market where the society members sell their freshly baked goods and raise funds. All the money raised goes back into the society to help more local people in need, ensuring everyone who needs it gets their essential food to end local food poverty. It is enlightening to see how far we have come to help those in need since the dark days of the pandemic that impacted the world 5 years ago and it feels almost fictional looking back on such a time, such a closed off lonely world.
Banquet day is a reminder that we are all in this together, a reminder that whether we are struggling or well off we are all human and need support through the hardships of life. In just a month I have seen what the power of goodness and a society such as this can do and how much it can help everyone. We are continuing to recruit members and hope that the society inspires others to start something similar. Imagine a world where food poverty does not exist? In a world where people are united instead of being divided. It is one I imagine of hope and unity and in the society, I can start to see it happening. So spread the word and join us so you can become a part of what is a movement of change. Imagining a world where you are not defined by your income or class but who you are as a person. Who we are as people, individuals. The world is changing and it is happening now!
Character Profiles
In putting myself in my narrative, I also decided to make some character profiles of members of the society to try and understand who would be likely to come to the society so I have tried to identify rough ages and occupations but have kept sexes and identities hidden as with the beliefs of the society.
Project Manifesto
- Bringing a sense of COMMUNITY back to the local Canterbury area through the development of a working-class society to unite people and create a strong local network of support and feeling of togetherness.
- Creating a NEW TRADITION centered around food where members of the society come together once a week on Sundays, to cook, bake and share a banquet feast together in an attempt to end local food poverty.
- The society will EDUCATE other members by teaching life skills such as learning to cook and bake, learn the importance of healthy nutrition and gain work experience. The members of the society will bake healthy and nutritious goods to sell at the in-house fresh food market to the public.
- There will be an in-house FRESH food market on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the society to sell their freshly baked produce to raise funds for the society.
- The food will be baked and sourced locally to support the LOCAL working-class community and to create a more sustainable solution to the food industry.
- By creating a strong local society centered around targeting food poverty, it will stop prejudices and discrimination between classes in the community and create EQUALITY uniting the local inhabitants.
Rachel C Clarke Portfolio 