Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard,
Well, that was a long month! And a tough one for many. Thank you for your continued support not just in the lead up to Christmas, but in the challenging weeks that followed. As always, we are grateful for any in-date unused non-perishable food items. Here’s a list of the food items that we are running lowest on at the moment…
Any non-perishable food items are gratefully received. This month we would really appreciate:
- Fruit juice (individual cartons and 1 litre)
- 1kg bags rice
- Tinned cold meat
- Tinned carrots
- Savoury crackers
If you can help by donating any of these via our community collection points we’d be very grateful. In January 2024, 134 emergency food parcels were distributed by the team and our local partners. Thank you for helping us with this.
We continue to work hard to ensure that as many people as possible know about the services that we provide, so that those who are able to contribute in some way know how, and those who find themselves needing a bit of help can access it. So far in 2024 we have visited the Parkinsons Support Group, met with representatives of the Homeless and Rough Sleeper Nursing Service and the Green Forum, and have hosted the Health Watch Somerset team who spent a Tuesday afternoon at the Pantry encouraging members to participate in opportunities to influence local health provision.
The Tuesday Pantry has been as busy as ever throughout January, and although a little chilly (as the pop-up shop pops up in a shed!) there’s been lots of happy chat over the surplus supplies that we’ve been able to offer. Last week, using a few of the items available, Linda cooked up a delicious dish of Oven Roasted Vegetables in a Bread Shell. The smells wafting from the kitchen were fabulous; lots of our members enjoyed a taste and took away a recipe to try at home. See our Facebook page for the recipe. Our Minehead Area Pantry is part of a network of 9 pantries across Somerset. Last week we were happy to meet with representatives of all of them, as well as the Somerset Council Pantry Project team and the Managers from our key supplier Fareshare South West, to share best practice and find out what’s in the pipeline for future supplies in view of the King’s Coronation Food Project. We’ll keep you posted on how their progress can help us here.
Talking of the King, we can’t let this newsletter go by without mentioning a special event that happened on January 19th. The team were delighted to welcome His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq and Deputy Lieutenants RAdm Ian Moncrieff CBE and Chris Davies CBE, along with lots of partners, friends and supporters, for the presentation of the King’s Award for Voluntary Service to the West Somerset Food Cupboard Team. We don’t celebrate the fact that there is a need for a food support charity like ours in this community, or any achievements in relation to the services that we provide, but we do celebrate the fact that, while that need exists, there are people willing to give their time, funds and food to meet that need.
THANK YOU FOR THE PART THAT YOU PLAY
With best wishes from the West Somerset Food Cupboard team
