BOSSES at Malvern Town Council are set to give financial support to the town’s Food Bank service by paying 50 per cent of their rent over a three year period.
Members of the town council will vote tonight (Wednesday) at a full council meeting on a recommendation the authority should commit to paying the food bank’s rental costs which totals more than £6,500 over the next three years.
Town councillors deferred a decision on the matter in June pending further discussions between the town council and the district who own the Spring Court premises in Spring Lane.
The move was previously approved at Malvern Hills District Council’s annual meeting but now needs to be endorsed by Malvern Town Council after a vote passed for the authority to foot half of the bill.
It comes after figures revealed more than 1,400 people including 600 children had been issued with emergency food relief by the service in its first year of operation.
The grant will be split over three years and will be paid in instalments covering £2,186 per year. The funds could come from the council’s Special Grants funding pot.
Mayor Julian Roskams, who put forward the motion for the council to cover the rent costs, said: “As with all such services, food banks rely on a very dedicated and hardworking team of volunteers. But they are working at the absolute limits of their capacity.
“I spoke at length to the Malvern Food Bank and asked them what was the one thing this council could do that would make a difference and they identified this support for the payment of their rent for the next three years.
“I hope a time comes when the need for food banks has disappeared, but until that happy day comes I would urge all councillors to support this.”
