Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard
Well, the longest darkest month is done, but it’s been a tough one for many, and the rate of food parcels going out has reflected this.
In January 2023 142 food parcels, of varying sizes depending on the household, were distributed across the local community; 121 of them via our partner agencies who provide specialist support at the same time, and 21 of them, in special circumstances, by our band of fabulous volunteers. To give some idea of how the need is increasing, 87 food parcels were distributed in January 2022.
Of course, this increase in demand is affecting our stock. We know that everyone is feeling the pinch, but if enough of us are able to continue donating food items now and then, we will together be able to make sure that no-one in our community is left without food.
Any non-perishable food items are gratefully received. This month we would really appreciate:
- Tinned potatoes
- Tinned sweetcorn
- Tinned carrots
- Tinned tomatoes
- Tinned cold meat
- Jars of pasta sauce
- Savoury biscuits
- Squash or juice
- UHT milk
Apologies for the long list this time, but these are the items that we need most at the moment. You can find all our collection points on the map on our website: Food Cupboard collection points or just get in touch using the contact details below. Thank you for your continued generosity.
The Tuesday Pantry continues to be a happy day of sharing out surplus fresh, frozen and non-perishable food items, most of which would have gone to waste, between our lovely members. We remain very grateful to the staff of Alcombe Co-op and Lidl Minehead for their support and for the FareShare volunteer drivers who deliver to us from Bristol each week. We would love to be able to increase the offer of locally produced/grown items that are available on Tuesdays, so if you can help us with this please do get in touch. We are actively looking at ways to expand the Pantry provision as we currently have to hold a waiting list for places. Watch this space!
At top of the post is what the Pantry looked like on the last day of January – bursting with colourful veg, fresh eggs and some store cupboard staples. Along with an open veg tart with cheesy pastry that Linda produced with last week’s ingredients, for us all to taste and then recreate at home. It was delicious! Recipes available on our Facebook page.
Applications to join the waiting list for the Pantry can be made via the Get Help page on our website. And there are other options that might be of interest, including the Love Food Hate Waste website and/or apps to access discounted or free excess food such as ‘Too good to go’ and ‘Olio’. And there are some great ideas from Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge’s Full Time Meals on the End Child Food Poverty website
With gratitude and warm wishes from the West Somerset Food Cupboard team
Keep up the great work team!