Cheylesmore food hub warns supplies running out...

[dutchman]

A charity that runs a community food hub has warned its shelves are emptying because of a drop in donations



Cheylesmore Food Hub in Coventry gives out bags of food, worth about £20, for £5 a week.

It has launched a doorstep initiative in a bid to get it shelves restocked.

Founder Caroline Sinclair is asking people from the Cheylesmore, Earlsdon and Whitley areas to leave donations on their doorstep on Saturday to enable volunteers to collect them.

"We want to make it really easy for people to donate," she said.

The scheme provides food packages for about 90 people each week.

"Donations have really, really dropped, and we know things are going to get tougher for everyone," Ms Sinclair added.

She explained demand has risen for food that doesn't need oven cooking, because of the rise in the cost of energy.

"Normally with people I see their eyes light up, as there's a good selection of stuff in there," she said.

"[But] one man picked up a pizza and just looked at me, as if I had really insulted him, and he explained that he didn't have an oven.

"People can't afford to put their oven on, so we've tried to keep a really good supply of stuff like instant noodles, instant pasta and instant mash that you can just make with boiled water, just so people have something to keep them going throughout the day."

[dutchman]

Empty shelves fill food hub volunteers with dread



Volunteers at a food hub have said they are struggling to fill their shelves with enough stock to help all the families who need it.

The Cheylesmore Food Hub in Coventry is based within the community centre on Arundel Road and is open every Friday and Saturday.

Caroline Sinclair, chair of trustees for the food hub, said volunteers regularly come in to find empty shelves because of the lack of donations.

The charity is now appealing for people to donate whatever they can during the winter months.

Volunteers at the food hub make up around 90 bags a week, containing a mix of store cupboard ingredients, tinned and packet food and fresh vegetables.

It operates as a social supermarket for local residents who can get £25 worth of food for just £6.

Ms Sinclair said: "Donations just generally this year have been down across the board. We have tremendous support from the local community.

"We know that people want to help us so we run appeals during the year and we now have a reverse advent appeal.

"Every week we come in and we pack all these bags, generally around 90 a week, and we come in and the shelves might look fairly full but once you've taken 90 of an item off the shelf it's completely empty so it is really tough to just keep the shelves stocked."

Items of food can be donated at two local collection points in Cheylesmore, including the Paws Pets store which will also accept pet food.

Ms Sinclair said high-priced items weren't donated very often, but they were always in demand.

"The things that don't get donated are the expensive items, and I completely understand, you know, it's very easy to put a tin of beans in your basket and add that onto your weekly shop.

"It's a lot harder to do tins of meat, tins of tuna, jars of coffee. Coffee is so expensive now, and for some people, that's their main treat, they like to have a cup of coffee in the morning.