The 3 Z's of Ely Soup

Zoe and Zareen host this month’s Ely Soup at Sylhet Restaurant on Market Street courtesy of owner Zahid with Ely Community First Responders, Invisible Illness Support Group and Pos+Ability inviting the attendees to vote for the £260 in the pot.

The Soup movement was first started in Detroit USA, has a way of bringing community groups into the eyes of local people. The idea is to pay a small fee for a bowl of soup and also a vote. Groups have just a few minutes and a few questions from the audience to impress and hopefully gain each vital tick on the voting form.
First up this weekend was The Ely Community First Responders.

They started with an impressive 3 minute demonstration on what happens when someone collapses from a possible cardiac arrest and an emergency call is made. In the demonstration, no ambulance was close by so one of the volunteers attended with a defibrillator.
They showed how to keep calm, give compressions and the use of example life saving piece of equipment.
After the demonstration they told us how the first 8 minutes after an arrest is vital to prevent brain damage.
They were at the Soup to assist with purchasing a new defibrillator for Ely after one of theirs had become faulty.
Second to talk was Hayley Mason who has recently set up a new group to give support to those suffering with invisible illnesses.
Hayley started her talk by saying she was impressed by the First Responders and believing other groups deserve the money more than hers but humbly she continued to let everyone know that she started the group because the nearest one she could find was in Essex.
Invisible illnesses include Lupus, Rhumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia and support is lacking. Hayley told us all that she is working to get more interaction between various support networks but is here to try and find a place for meetings as currently they are all using a friends front room.
Finally, Linda Neate from Pos+Ability came to explain why they are always needing assistance.

The organisation has now been running for several years in various locations around the area and 2 hours a week for 6 months assistance with things like me memory and cognitive skills development and balance and resistance work.
With some full time staff and a small army of volunteers, the organisation continues to grow and more fund are needed to keep with the growing demand that the free to use organisation is under.
After hearing all 3 pitches the attendees ate a Soup that was made by Theresa, butternut squash and coconut. LOVELY!!

The attendees while eating were given the opportunity to discuss among themselves and with the groups who to vote for and after voting had finished, Zoe announced the winner.
And the winner is ………….

HAYLEY MASON from Invisible Illnesses Support Group.

Speaking to us after the event, Hayley said, “This changes everything for us, we can now start to look for our own location meet up and help others”.
Ely Soup are now looking for their next venue and Zahid from Sylhet (www.sylhetely.co.uk, use discount code ‘SPOTELY’ for 10% off online orders between Sunday and Thursday) has kindly offered to pay some towards the cost. Ely Soup are also looking for groups to pitch. Registration is available on their website. www.elysoup.com