Big Breakfast Plus in Swindon given new hygiene rating

Big Breakfast Plus, based at the Pilgrim Centre on Regents Street, is a charity organisation with one simple mission – to feed the hungry and offer a sense of community to the lonely.

Serving up breakfast every day from 7.30am to 9am, the volunteers work at lightning pace to get through 770 eggs, 770 rashers of bacon, 840 sausages and 50 litres of milk a week.

But when a food hygiene inspector turned up at their doors in late March, she declared that she had never seen anything like it.

“We didn’t even know they were coming. The food hygiene inspector just turned up out of the blue,” said volunteer Charlotte Mannion.

“The morning they came we were in the middle of serving 89 people, and the inspector said she had never seen anything move so smoothly and calmly.”

Big Breakfast Plus has passed the test with flying colours and walked away with a five star food hygiene rating for the second time running, but the achievement could not have been possible without the hard work of volunteers.

The volunteers at Big Breakfast Plus range from ages 17 to 81. (Image: Big Breakfast Plus)

“We serve up breakfast seven mornings a week and our youngest volunteer is only 17 with our eldest being 81. We have eight or nine volunteers on every shift now because the numbers coming in have escalated hugely,” said Charlotte.

“I think it’s partly due to the cost of living crisis and also because there’s less food available in the town now since the hostel has closed their canteen.

“We’re also seeing more lonely and isolated people starting to come in.

“We try and create a warm atmosphere so they don’t feel like charity cases because they're not, they're a part of our community.”

Volunteer Charlotte Mannion is thrilled to have maintained a five star hygiene rating. (Image: Big Breakfast Plus)

The breakfast club is open to anyone in need regardless of their situation, and volunteers don’t ask questions or turn anyone away.

Many of the volunteers are previous customers themselves, including 23-year-old Gabriel who is learning how to cook and gain cleaning skills while awaiting refugee status.

Other volunteers are simply retired locals looking for a reason to get up in the morning.

"We're absolutely thrilled that this new hygiene rating means we can keep running because we're here to stay and we're a part of the community," Charlotte emphasised.

"At the end of the day we’re simply a breakfast club operating with friendship and good company, but it does cost around £110,000 to keep us going so we will always welcome any support and extra funding we can get."