An initiative which provides local people with a no questions asked weekly care bag, a voluntary service which many have found necessary for basic food, may not be able to continue without future funding.

The Community Food

Network (CFN) began in

February this year, run by a small group of dedicated, local volunteers, kick-started by a donation from Welton

Rovers Football Club and

another local organisation.

The money was used to pack care bags for eight households that provide around three days’ worth of meals – breakfast, lunch and evening meal, plus household essentials for people who may be struggling to put food on the table for themselves or their families.

People have been able to get in touch via the Community Food Network Facebook page to request help and soon, the group found there was more demand than the

original eight bags.

Most recently, CFN have teamed up with FareShare, a national network of food redistributors who send out surplus food to charities, cutting food waste. This has meant the addition of fresh food to CFN’s care bags, not just tins and long-life items – however, CFN volunteers are having to find £15 a week to pay FareShare’s costs. Without funding help, the local initiative simply cannot continue long-term. It may even need to suspend its service until funding can be found.

CFN are looking for local businesses and organisations that would be interested in making a donation or pledging long-term support for the initiative – so far, Mendip and District Roundtable and Radstock Carpet and Bed Centre have offered stirling support. A crowdfunding page has set a target of £500 to try and get the initiative on firm footing.

Jon Durrant, from Westfield, and his daughter, Lottie, are the founders of CFN. Jon told The Journal that whilst some local Government initiatives are being wound up, now that restrictions are easing, the need for help with food and essentials is still prevalent within the community. He said: “Many people do not see poverty in this area, but there is definitely a need.

31% of children living in

Radstock are living in food poverty – parts of our area are actually some of the most deprived in the UK.

“There is definitely a need – it’s not always people that cannot manage their money or their lives – it is just people that have fallen on hard times. And we’ve seen that across the spectrum.

“We call all those receiving a care bag ‘guests’ to try to make them feel more comfortable and to know there is no shame in asking for help. Our guests range from young people to single parents, families, pensioners – one person told me they didn’t know what they would have done for food that week if they hadn’t

received one of our care bags.”

CFN is made up of a small group of like-minded volunteers who pay their own expenses and 100% of the money donated is spent on food for the care bags. If you would like to help by donating, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cfn

If you are a local business or organisation: facebook.com/CommunityFoodNetwork/