Local charity, Fair Frome which runs the Food Bank, Furniture Bank, Food at Five and other projects designed to support people in the town who are in need, are rising to the threats posed by the corona virus and are asking for help from people in the town as their Food Bank runs desperately short of stock.
Bob Ashford, chair of trustees said, “The run up to Christmas saw the Food Bank volunteers working flat out to cope, not only with a 30% increase in distribution over the past year, but also with almost twice the number of food parcels given out in December and January, compared to the rest of the year.
“In addition, they also distributed over 150 Christmas parcels filled with Christmas food and other items to food bank visitors and to local schools to give out to those families the schools identified would benefit from them.
“We are very grateful for the huge amount of food donated by local people but unfortunately our stocks now have never been lower and we are asking Frome people to help us by donating food at our distribution points around the town. Some people have been giving an extra item of food for each day of Lent, which is a great idea. Some people have even organised internet shopping deliveries! All donations are very welcome.”
The charity has also been planning for the corona virus outbreak. Frome coordinators, Lenka Grimes and Wendy Miller Williams, have been working with volunteers, referral agencies and service users to ensure the Food Bank, Furniture Bank and Food at Five stay open and safe.
They said. “We are committed to keeping our services open and as safe as we can make them. We are following advice from the appropriate authorities and introducing measures to protect staff, volunteers and service users.
“We recognise that epidemics like this will have the greatest impact on those who are on the lowest incomes and with increased health needs. These are the very people who already need and use our services most and we want to keep them open as long as we can safely do so.”
If you wish to make a food donation, Fair Frome has collection points in most local supermarkets and other shops throughout Frome. If you wish to make a financial donation you can do so via https://local giving.com/charity/fairfrome
