A church and charity has received a generous donation to its food club that will go a long way to helping people in poverty this festive season.
The Salvation Army in Bury, located on Brookshaw Street, welcomed the donation of £1,000 from Financial Options Group to its weekly food club provision which gives members of the local community access to a pantry of groceries, fresh produce and personal hygiene items via a self-selection process.
Taking place on Tuesdays from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm the food club helps to combat food poverty in the local area and is for members of the community struggling to make ends meet and people have been able to access items that they may need in time for Christmas Day but at a greatly reduced rate compared to supermarket prices.
Captain Cor van der Woude, church leader of The Salvation Army in Bury said:
“Each week we see a whole range of people coming in to access our food support and we can see that people are really struggling. Low-income families who are in receipt of free school meals are the ones impacted the most when the schools close and budgets need to be stretched so having a service to access that provides good products at great prices truly is a lifeline for many.
“We welcome donations of all kinds and sizes and rely on them to ensure that we can continue to provide a good range for our community, especially in their time of need. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Financial Options and everyone else that enables us to continue running the food club, being able to serve without discrimination and continue to be at the heart of our community.”
The food club also receives a monthly grocery shop worth £100 from local business Car Benefit Solutions in Bury enabling shelves to remain stocked.
Operating in a drop-in style and unlike a food bank, no referral is needed and the cost to become a food club member is just £5 for an annual membership.
Once at the club there is a cost of just £3 which gives the member up to 12 – 15 items of fresh vegetables, fresh, chilled and frozen food, nonperishable items and toiletries, dependent on availability. On occasions the food club will also have items for pets and baby items too such as formula and nappies. The items are limited to ensure the scheme is fair for everyone attending.
For anyone wishing to support the food club, financial donations are accepted and while donations of all sizes are welcome, people are encouraged to donate only what they can afford. The Salvation Army in Bury has a Just Giving page which can be found atwww.justgiving.com/tsa-
