Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard,
Another month has passed, and the end of summer is already in sight – what an amazing summer it has been!
We’ve had a busy few weeks at the Food Cupboard, sorting donations and distributing food bags. Our focus remains on supporting anyone experiencing food poverty, particularly during the school holidays when families often face extra pressure to keep hungry mouths fed.
Thanks to generous supermarket donations, our shelves have been well stocked this summer. We are especially grateful to Tesco Minehead and FareShare, the charity that helps distribute food that would otherwise go to waste. Their “Pick a Bag for Your Local Food Bank” campaign has been a huge success. Customers were able to pick up pre-prepared bags containing essential items, and because of this initiative—run throughout the six-week school holidays—we have seen a 50% increase in donations in the last 6 weeks which is brilliant. A huge thank you to Tesco Minehead for making such a difference!
Together with this support we have also received news that we have received a grant from ASDA supermarket too. We are delighted to have received £600 from Asda’s Foodbank Fundamentals grant funding to help provide emergency food. Over the past few months, the Food Cupboard has seen a 10% increase in demand for emergency food support and with donations being down this grant from Asda will enable us to meet this shortfall especially as we enter the challenging winter months.
As the back-to-school season begins, we know this can also be a financially challenging time for families. If you know anyone who might benefit from some extra food supports, please do pass along our contact details so they can reach out.
Looking ahead to autumn and the Harvest Festival, we’d like to remind everyone that this is a vital time for us. As many of us are pickling, preserving, and enjoying our own harvests at home, the Food Cupboard also needs to stock up in preparation for Christmas. If you are attending or involved in any Harvest Festival service, please help spread the word—we’d be so grateful for any support we receive.
This Month’s Shortages
If you can help with donations this month these are the items, we are in most need of:
- Pot Noodles
- Tinned Fish & Meat – tuna, mackerel, sardines, corned beef, ham, meat paste
- Tinned Fruit -small and large size
- Crisps & small packets of crackers
- Porridge Pots
- Small tins of spaghetti or baked beans
- Small tins of potatoes or Instant mash sachets
- Savoury Crackers/Bread sticks/Rice cakes
- Individual Puddings-jellies, fruit, rice puddings
- Tinned Tomatoes- small and large
- UHT Milk 1 litre
- Rice
- Sugar
- Biscuits
