Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard
Well, it’s been another busy month here and we thank you for your continued support with all our activities.
The Local Pantry continues every Tuesday and the membership list is currently at capacity with a waiting list building up. We’ve been delighted with the variety of surplus food that we have been able to offer members each week and impressed with the photos of recipes and meals created with the ingredients. It’s been encouraging to hear children telling us that they’ve been trying fruit and vegetables that they have never tried before and adult members sharing ideas and building relationships whilst helping to reduce unnecessary waste. As always, we are bowled over by the generosity of supporters who find creative ways to provide additional support.
Throughout June 100 emergency food parcels were distributed, just one more than the previous month, making a total of 563 in the first six months of 2022. A few were delivered direct to individuals in immediate crisis. Other were distributed by the West Somerset Advice Bureau, the West Somerset College, Home-Start West Somerset, Navigate, Magna, Village Agents, the Salvation Army, the Job Centre, CAP and the Hope Centre, as part of the packages of specialist support that they all provide.
The Environmental Health Team at Somerset West and Taunton Council recently carried out a thorough inspection of all the work of the West Somerset Food Cupboard, including the emergency food parcel provision and the Local Pantry. We were delighted to be awarded the full 5-star Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene rating.
We always have so many people to thank – not least the volunteers who follow all the food hygiene requirements and show up reliably for every shift with a smile on their faces 😊. Special thanks to Olena, our Ukrainian volunteer who, as well as sorting and packing food with us, has kindly translated our publicity material into Ukrainian to make the services that we provide accessible to more people.
Thank you also to Maya from the Kite team who provided these fabulous craft packs for our youngest Local Pantry members. They were a very much appreciated extra!
And of course, we want to thank all who reliably donate food items whether through the collection points in local shops, churches and community venues, or by delivering them personally to the ‘Donation Station’ at the side of the church. Here’s the list of items that we are currently running low on. If you can help, we’d be very grateful.
Any non-perishable food items are gratefully received. This month we are low on:
- UHT milk (1pt/half litre)
- Small bottles squash
- Small jars coffee
- Individual desserts (custard/fruit pots etc)
- Tinned fruit
- Tinned carrots or sweetcorn
Thank you all for the part that you play
From Ali and the Food Cupboard team
