Food & Drink Fund awards £30,000 to Suffolk charities
The Food & Drink Fund recently awarded six grants of £5,000 each to organisations addressing food poverty in Suffolk. These included food banks in Lowestoft and Stowmarket, Halesworth Community Larder, county-wide pop up shops, meal kits and food parcel delivery services.
Following the award of these grants, members of the Food & Drink Fund visited a number of projects to see some of the amazing work being carried out by local charities including Access Community Trust, New Life Church and BASIC Life. Despite the demand for these services being persistently high, it was inspiring to experience the creative and passionate response of the voluntary sector and their partners.
The winter months and school holidays often present the most testing times for people who struggle to feed themselves and the Fund will continue to provide support to projects that directly assist them.
Groups awarded in the Food & Drink Fund's latest round of grantmaking
Access Community Trust, towards The Pink Orange food poverty project
Aspect Living Foundation, towards food parcels and welfare visits for patients discharged from hospital
Halesworth Volunteer Centre, to support the Halesworth Community Larder
Lowestoft Community Church, to support Lowestoft Foodbank
New Life Church Suffolk, towards core costs for the foodbank
The BASIC Life Charity, towards Basic Community Pop-up Shops
A lot of time is spent looking at the charities that we give money to and there is nothing more rewarding than giving the very kind donations we receive, apart from seeing them at work. The network of volunteers, the operational skills-set required to run them, the dedication of all involved and seeing the difference it makes to people in need is purely inspirational. Myself and all the committee members feel honoured to be involved and can only thank Suffolk Community Foundation for making it all happen.
A visit to the New Life Church Foodbank, a recent grant recipient from the fund
The Food & Drink Fund is an amazing grant-making asset which addresses food deprivation in Suffolk but we could always do with more members, to allow us to reach even more people. For further information, please contact Sally [email protected] or Henry [email protected].
Basic Life Pop Up Shop in All Hallows Church Ipswich