Trio of Salisbury food projects call for us to lend a hand in Big Help Out
The first Big Help Out celebrated King Charles III's coronation in 2023
We're being asked to 'lend a hand' to Salisbury's food projects today (Saturday 8th June) as part of this year's 'Big Help Out'.
First introduced in 2023 as part of the celebrations of King Charles III's coronation, this years theme is reminding us that a single act of kindness can make a massive difference.
We're being asked to do our 'good deed' for the day by donating some food if we're in the Guildhall Square.
We can donate items to the volunteers between 10.00am and 3.00pm today.
Across the country, foodbank use is up 4% and despite campaigns for donations around Easter and Christmas, foodbanks, pantry projects and community fridges can find it challenging to continually meet demand.
Salisbury Pantry serves 120 households each week, with almost 400 homes registered with them. A basic shop at the pantry contains at least 15 items of tinned or packaged food, meaning they need a minimum of 7,200 on their shelves each month to meet peoples needs.
They'll be joined in collecting donations by Salisbury Foodbank and Old Sarum and Longhedge Pantry, which has now been open for a year.
The volunteer run pantry is seeing more people come to them every month, with 150 homes registered for shopping and accessing their much-needed space for a cup of tea and some support.
Acorn Community Bank will join the trio of food projects in the Guildhall Square, offering information about financial inclusion and the credit union service they provide.
The F3 growing project, who produce fresh food for Salisbury Pantry, will also be on site to chat about how we can help them get fresh produce to those who need it most.