Bungay charity transforms former butchers shop into community food hall

A charity in Suffolk with plans to open a subsidised food shop to help people struggling with the rising cost of living is appealing to local businesses and home-growers to donate surplus fruit and vegetables.

Bungay Community Support (BCS) first started providing essential items to vulnerable people in the market town during the 2020 Covid lockdown. Now the charity, which has developed a range of support services, is in the process of transforming a former butchers shop into a community hub.

Divided into two parts, one half of the hub will house the food hall and the other half a one-stop shop for BCS services, advice and information.

Linda Bailey, volunteer and BCS trustee, said: “We discovered last winter that there are a lot of people in Bungay facing financial hardship. When we were running our warm rooms service last year we found people were coming in who basically had no food left in the house. On the face of it Bungay comes across as a prosperous market town – but it actually has high levels of deprivation, with 70% of the population in the most deprived 20% of areas in England.”

The non-profit food hall will stock a range of surplus produce, including fresh fruit and vegetables, alongside everyday basic items at discounted prices, which would have otherwise gone to waste. This service will support people who were just about managing before the cost of living crisis but are now facing food poverty.

“Bungay has an above average problem with children being overweight linked to poverty, and we want to enable families to eat healthier,” Linda said.

“Often the cheaper foods are not always the healthiest and this can have an impact on physical as well as mental wellbeing. We want to make the options available to people at the food hall healthy. It’s just getting over this stigma that people really don’t like to say – I can’t afford to put a healthy meal in front of my family.”

“For a sum of about £3.50 a week people will be able to have a selection of groceries to a value of about £15 to £20 a week.”

In order to offer healthier choices at the food hall organisers are appealing to local businesses, producers and home-growers to donate surplus fresh fruit and vegetables.

Jonny Crickmore, director of Fen Farm Dairy is one of the businesses in full support of the food hall. He said: ’’We always have a small amount of product we make that doesn’t find a home and this is a worthy cause to donate unsold products for people who need it most.”

A sentiment echoed by Nicola Milne-Malone owner of local greengrocers, Giddens and Thompsons: “It’s fabulous, what a lovely idea for the local community. We are more than happy to donate and get involved.”

Nicola, also a nutritionist, plans to use her expertise to help BCS with menu planning and nutritional advice, offering educational talks at the centre.

She said: “The BCS food hall is a lovely thing to be involved in and I would encourage other businesses in the surrounding area to get involved, and donate or help where they can.”

Refurbishment of the former butchers shop first started last October with the help of volunteers from the Ditchingham Men’s Shed, a charity group which provides a friendly place for men and women to meet, share skills and chat.

Paul Brown, one of the Men’s Shed volunteers working on the project, said: “As a member of Men’s Shed I was happy to support another community project. Being retired, it’s nice to use my experience for the benefit of the wider community and to meet new people, make friends and to promote the Men’s Shed.”

Bungay Community Support offers a range of other services including warm rooms, a befriending scheme, shopping and medication service and baby basics. More than 60 volunteers support the services and the charity is always on the lookout for new recruits.

With the on-going development of the food hall organisers are particularly interested in volunteers with a background in cooking who can help come up with menu ideas.

The food hall which is due to open in April is the first of its kind in Bungay and is accessible to anyone, regardless of income and no referrals are needed.

If you would like to donate your surplus food to the Bungay Community Support food hall  you can register your interest by emailing – bungaycsinfo@bungaycs.org.uk.

EDP

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23398700.bungay-john-groom-butchers-now-community-food-hall/ 

East Anglian Daily Times

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23398700.bungay-john-groom-butchers-now-community-food-hall/ 

Beccles and Bungay Journal

https://www.becclesandbungayjournal.co.uk/news/23398700.bungay-john-groom-butchers-now-community-food-hall/