A pleasant surprise at Aldi

For the last couple of years Stratton Methodist Church in Swindon has been running a project called "Community Kitchen". On the second Saturday of the month, we open the church up and offer the homeless and lonely somewhere to come for a meal and some companionship. We also are able to provide guests with packs containing toiletries and we also have some clothing available.

Last month we had a record number of guests and many of them asked if we had any shoes they could have. We didn't have any shoes but I remembered that the local Aldi supermarket had some in stock. So I went round to Aldi and bought a few pairs of trainer style walking shoes. These proved popular with the guests and we promised we'd get some more in for next time.

I do quite a lot of our shopping in Aldi as it is very convenient for where we live and very good value. So every time I've been in since last Community Kitchen I've looked to see if they had any shoes in stock. Until today I've been out of luck but this morning I saw they had just had a delivery of "Winter boots" - walking boots. I bought five pairs as the church treasurer had said to me if I saw any shoes get them.

The chap on the till looked at me slightly quizzically for having five pairs of boots.So I explained to him that I was buying them for the homeless project at Stratton Methodist Church.

I was just packing my trolley, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned round to see a lady with a £10 note in her hand.

"I couldn't help but hear what you said about the shoes. So please can you take this money for the project."

I could have hugged her. All I know is that as I thanked her for her kindness I felt tears in my eyes.

It has apparently become quite trendy for the middle classes to shop at Aldi and Lidl for bargains. (A recent newspaper feature in The Daily Telegraph summed it up "How Aldi won the class war - and became the fastest-growing supermarket in Britain. How has the German giant conquered Middle England? ") So was the giver of the tenner some Yummy Mummy slumming it to buy the 79p coconut milk? I don't think so. I think the giver was an "ordinary" person who just wanted to do something for someone else in the lead up to Christmas. £10 to her may have been quite a lot of money relatively speaking. But her generous gift will mean a lot to someone leaving Community Kitchen next week with some new boots.

Whoever she was, that lady's spontaneous act of generosity touched my heart. Thank you whoever you are.