Food larders 'crucial' for struggling families

A charity that provides community food larders has upgraded one of its units so it can be accessed 24 hours a day.

Westbank Community Health and Care runs two larders in Exminster and another in Starcross in Devon, in partnership with Fairshare. It said its facility beside Exminster Methodist Church was now accessible around the clock.

Sarah Benthall, head of voluntary and community services, said some working families were forced to use its larders to give children a balanced diet. "Some children have never tried fresh food and some have tasted an orange for the first time here.

"Families now have the confidence to get a bag of food to keep them going for a few days," she said.

Benthall said the charity's larders were open to everyone but thanks to support from the parish council, the larder beside the Methodist Church in Exminster was now in a waterproof unit which was always open for people to help themselves to provisions.

She said: "Demand for our larders continues to increase, and we are actively seeking further support - monetary donations and regular donations of food would be very gratefully received and help us continue to support our community."

At Starcross, the volunteer-operated larder opens twice a week on every Tuesday and Thursday morning while the larder at the Healthy Living Centre, Westbank, Exminster, is open from Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 16:00.

Benthall said its services could make all the difference to struggling families, and single households to ensure noone ran out of food or went hungry.

Alma Harding, a widow who lives in Starcross, said the food larder enabled her to get individual fresh items, rather than larger supermarket produce which she might waste.

She said she hoped people and firms would donate food items rather than bin them, as it could help more people like herself.

"We can come and get something sensible for our (portion) size to keep us going," she said.

Westbank said that in the last financial year it had supported more than 1,200 visits to its three larders which were stocked through donations from members of the community, Exeter Food Action and by several suppliers, including Fareshare and supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury's.