Palace to be Christmas soup kitchen

Now the former home of Bishop William Alexander and his famous wife, Cecil Frances Alexander, the hymn writer, is to become an annual charity station on Christmas Day.

The brainchild of Garrow Way, from Eglinton, the idea came to him four weeks ago in a discussion with his wife, Elaine and son, Michael, about what the family would do for Christmas.

Securing what is now the Masonic Hall was the first step in making his mission come true - to help those in extreme poverty and need, and an appeal among acquaintances, friends and family, and on the social media site Facebook, resulted in a an avalanche of good will that meant there was enough food and clothing to not only for December 25, but enough was left over to supply the Methodist Mission for two more days.

“I approached the Masonic Board of Management to see if they would give us the use of the all, so the whole thing was held under the auspices of the Masonic Hall, which they gave free of charge, and Noel Kelly of Prestige Catering, in Limavady, did all the cooking for us, so all we had to do was re-heat the soup. Noel also made us sandwiches. So, within three weeks of coming up with the idea it all fell into place. I was amazed with the amount of generosity we got from people. We also received help from Joan Doherty from the North West Methodist Mission, which provided us with all the bread and everything. So one charity helped another, because what we had left over we gave to the Mission.

“We got a whole pile of clothes donated to us and what we did not use we sent to the Methodist Mission for them to use throughout the Mission,” he said, still reeling from the kindness people had shown.

Garrow’s daughter Kathryn, together with other Army Cadets, helped with the distribution on the day and other volunteers included Joan Doherty and members of the Methodist Mission, the folks at Bluebell Florists and even Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Ken Good and his wife, Mary, dropped by to help out.

“Bishop Good told me that even if we only helped one person that day that was a success. But I can tell you we will be building on it for next year,” said Garrow, adding: “Joan Doherty told me that Belfast City Mission had been doing this for seven years and it took them that seven years to get 80 people this Christmas. None of this would have happened without the support of the Board of Management of the Masons and I see this as new and important outreach for them. And I would not have been able to do this without Joan Doherty and the generosity of the people who made donations, including one non-executive member of the Western Health and Social Care Trust who landed in last week with two five-kilo hams as their donation.

“The resettlement officer at the Methodist Mission told me that the food we passed on to them was enough to feed people they work with for two days. It is just amazing to think that so many people turned up to help,” he said.

It is over 150 years since the Bishop’s Palace has been a centre for charitable good deeds involving helping the poor and needy with food and warm clothing in winter.

Former residents, Bishop William Alexander and his wife, Cecil Frances, were famed for the lengths they would go to, to help those in dire straights. According to the Dean of Derry, the Very Red Dr William Morton, in the early days of her marriage, when she was still living in Castlederg, Cecil Frances and her husband would walk for miles over moorland to bring people in need provisions.

“She and her husband would have done that frequently and I am sure they would have continued that kind of charity when they came here to Londonderry. There are many stories of Cecil Frances Alexander bringing out home made bread, cakes and home made jams to people in need in the housing lying beyond the city gates at Bishop Street Without,” said the Dean.

He continued: “I remember an elderly lady here at the Cathedral for a few years when I first came here. She died in her 90s, but she told me that she remembered her mother telling her that when her mother was a little girl she remembered Cecil Frances Alexander doing charitable good deeds, so that would be evidence of charitable deeds taking place at the Bishop’s Palace in 1867 and up to 1895. It is a matter of historic record that the Alexanders were known for their generosity and of generosity pouring from that house on Bishop Street Within.”