Hutton Daily Bread Cafe
1491. Lisa Whymark
Lisa Whymark, from Brentwood, runs the Hutton Daily Bread Cafe which she has transformed into a community hub since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Through her cafe, Lisa allows those in need within the local community to pick up free bags of essential food items as well as helping people to celebrate special occasions with bunches of flowers and birthday cakes. Over 150 volunteers are supporting Lisa with distributing food, and she is also working closely with local charity Manna Meals, set up by fellow Point of Light Victoria De Coster.
In a personal letter to Lisa, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“I wanted to write to thank you for the magical way you have transformed your café into a thriving community hub filled with food parcels, cakes and flowers.
“Our battle against Coronavirus has necessitated certain restrictions on our lives but you have ensured that birthdays have remained special for so many with your cakes and flowers delivered far and wide across the county.”
Lisa said:
“Thanks so much for nominating me for the award it was a complete shock and I only feel able to accept it on behalf of the amazing team of volunteers that make any of the work possible at the Daily Bread, it has been a mammoth effort by everyone involved and I thank them all hugely.”