Six months of planning and hoping led to the launch of a new community welfare project in the Somer Valley area last Tuesday.
Led by local churches, Somer Valley Foodbank is to help deal with the problem of increasing financial need in the area, whether that is from someone who has lost a job or a pension which can’t be stretched to meet increasing bills.
Co-ordinator Joy Fraser said: “The new Foodbank in the Somer Valley is the culmination of some very hard work by a number of volunteers who originally all came to the project from churches and other organisations in Peasedown, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the surrounding villages. We are very grateful to everyone who has helped.
A small team was formed to set up the foodbank including identifying and preparing a store for food, collecting over 3 tonnes of food to start the Foodbank, recruiting over 100 volunteers, identifying professional agencies who will issue the vouchers, to raise awareness of the project, to visit other Foodbanks, and to set up distribution centres.”
Last Tuesday at St Nicholas’ Church in Radstock, volunteers, supporters and representatives from all the organisations that have helped out, joined together to officially launch the project.
Revd Matthew Street, Leader of the St J’s Group of Anglican churches and a member of the core management team, commented: “Foodbanks provide three days of food to people who need it the most. How the initiative works is that professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, the CAB and police identify people in crisis and issue them with a Foodbank voucher.
“The voucher can be taken can be taken to a Foodbank distribution centre where the food has been collected through donations, or from volunteer supermarket collections.”
Over the last 13 years, almost 300 foodbanks have been established around the county to provide food in times of crisis, many of them over the last 18 months in response to the growing need.
After the launch of the Somer Valley Foodbank on Tuesday 8th January, the professional agencies will be issuing vouchers to those they find are in need and directing them to the food distribution centres which will be in Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Peasedown St John.
For more details contact The Ammerdown Centre who will now take calls and enquiries for Somer Valley Foodbank: 01761 433709 or visit the new Somer Valley Foodbank website: www.somervalley.foodbank.org.uk
