MORE than 5,000 people have been helped through Worcestershire County Council’s food support programme during the coronavirus pandemic.
Over 500 catering packs have been provided so far, with each pack containing enough food to help feed 10 people for one week.
In all 425 food parcels, containing one week’s supply, have gone to people who needed help as they couldn’t get food themselves and were not receiving shielded support from central government.
To meet urgent calls for help, the Council has also sent out 420 emergency food packs during the pandemic.
The Lakeview Café at County Hall has been converted into a food distribution hub, and staff have been providing food deliveries to food banks and street kitchens as they have struggled to get the food that they need to meet the demand.
One of the local projects which benefited was the Bromsgrove Basement Project, sister organisation of Redditch Nightstop.
Jackie Hooper, from the Basement Project, said: “We were extremely pleased to be offered this help from the County Council. The weekly deliveries from the county enabled us to add much needed fresh produce to our food parcels.
“Items such as milk, butter, cheese, potatoes and eggs. This meant we were providing anyone who was either struggling financially or through the need to isolate, with substantial groceries to support them during the height of the shut down.”
The Servest team who usually work in the cafés on the county council sites at County Hall and Wildwood did the packing and County Enterprises helped with the deliveries.
The packs delivered fresh meat, fruit and vegetables allowing recipients to maintain a healthy diet.
