Fresh food deliveries for needy

A major community effort has kicked off in Bridge of Allan to help get fresh food to those in need.

The ‘larder’ initiative got underway last week with the first collection being run from the parish church hall in the town.

The hub aims to distribute fresh food donated by local supermarkets in order to help those who find themselves in difficult times due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including those who have financially impacted by the lockdown or vulnerable people left isolated.

It’s being run as a joint effort between the Bridge of Allan Cares volunteering group which now stretches to around 200 members - as well as the local community council and the Kitchen on 44 King Street, who are coordinating the food collection.

Bridge of Allan Community Council vicechair Jo Chisholm told the Observer: “We got involved because we had Jo Cookson from the Bridge of Allan Cares group along to one of our meetings and we asked what we could do to help out.

“She suggested some form of food hub and so we picked up the mantle a couple of local councillors - Alasdair Tollemache and Douglas Dodds - with Alasdair getting in touch with Kitchen at 44 King Street to see if they would be willing to help.

“They get deliveries from local supermarkets and so we got our first food donation from them on Tuesday.

“We’ve got about 20 volunteers who have committed to help so far - some of whom are involved in the Cares group as well - and we’re going to run it two days a week to start with.

“The food hub is open to anyone because we’re not in a place to judge, although it’s intended to help out those having financial implications from Covid-19 and we were aware that not everyone could travel through to Stirling so we needed something local like this in place.”

After the initial post about the food hub were published on social media over the weekend, the community council has seen a strong response as the community aims to get the word out about the project.

Ms Cookson added: “It’s just a lovely thing seeing people coming forward, with people volunteering not just their time, but also making donations of things like hand sanitiser, blue paper rolls and latex gloves to keep those operating the food hub safe.

“The Cares group are also becoming aware of people locally who are isolated and so are dropping food bags in to them, which means we don’t miss anyone.”

Councillors Tollemache and Dodds also added their own words of support to the project, saying: “The same community spirit that came together to set up Teas Company in Bridge of Allan is present here.

“We know many are struggling at the present time and the food hub is there for people to use so we encourage them to come along.”

The councillors added: “Thank you to all the volunteers who are supporting this and in particular to the community council for taking this on.”

The next larder collection will take place in the church hall of Bridge of Allan Parish Church on Friday between 11.30am and 1pm.

It’s just a lovely thing seeing people come forward