A fortnightly food delivery scheme has received a welcome boost after being awarded a grant of £12,308 from Warwickshire County Council.
Time Out - a not for profit group based in Baddesley Ensor - provides deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables to vulnerable, elderly, disabled and isolated people across Grendon, Baddesley, Birchmoor, Dordon and the surrounding areas.
Each fortnight around 220 bags of food are delivered to those that need it. All the produce is locally sourced from Smithy farm shop . Time Out works closely with groups of volunteers in Birchmoor and Dordon who make up the bags of food and help with distribution. The food bags are either collected from the village hall in Baddesley; delivered by volunteers; or collected from an honesty shop in Dordon.
To be eligible for a free food bag from Time Out you need to be one of the following:
- Over 60
- Impacted by COVID-19
- Registered disabled
- A low-income household with dependants
Those that don’t qualify for a free bag, can order a bag of fruit and vegetables from Time Out for just £5.
Julie Goodman, Chairperson of Time Out says: “We are delighted with the success of this project so far. We only started running our fruit and veg scheme on 19 October this year, and we have already supplied bags to 890 households.
“Providing fresh fruit and veg so people can still eat healthily during tough times has been so rewarding. We’ve received some great feedback from local residents who welcome not just the food, but a friendly face coming to the door. Our aim is to reach out to as many vulnerable people as possible in the areas we support.”
Julie continued: “This project wouldn’t be possible without our amazing volunteers, who work so hard and make all our deliveries in a covid-safe manner. A big thank you also to Warwickshire County Council for providing us with this much-needed funding boost.”
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Heritage & Culture added: “We are delighted to support Time Out. This is a wonderful project providing much-needed support to vulnerable groups in our community. I’d like to thank everyone involved, including the volunteers who help make up the individual parcels and make sure the food gets to those that need it. These deliveries are helping vulnerable people to stay at home and stay safe.”
This initiative is just one of 27 schemes so far funded out of the Government’s COVID-19 Emergency Assistance funding. The funding supports a range of initiatives supporting our most vulnerable residents including community cafes, fruit and veg bags, a community kitchen, mobile food banks, expansion of local food banks to provide chilled food and much more.
All the schemes will be promoted to people in local areas and more details will be made available as the projects develop. In the meantime, Warwickshire County Council’s hotline on 0800 408 1447 remains open for people who need urgent help to access food and well-being support during these difficult times.
The council’s welfare scheme, accessible via the hotline, or online www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localwelfarescheme can also assist people in crisis by offering short term support to manage the needs of their households. To qualify for support from the scheme people need to be a UK resident, aged 16 or over, and have no other financial means to access food or fuel. Anyone facing serious hardship is invited to get in touch to find out more.
For more information about council services and support during the pandemic, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/coronavirus.