Third FOOD club to open in Mansfield

The council has been working with leading charities, Family Action and FoodShare, to open the first clubs in August in Bellamy Road and Oaktree Lane.

Those clubs now support around 50 members each week.

A third club is now being launched this month at Dallas Street Resource Centre in the Portland area of the district.

Reports have shown that the number of families finding it hard to put food on the table increased four-fold during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Trussell Trust, which is responsible for nearly half the food banks in Nottinghamshire, has reported an 81 per cent increase in people needing support from food banks at the end of March compared with the same time last year and demand for food parcels from families with children has increased by 121 per cent.

Last month, the council was awarded £70,000 from the Nottinghamshire County Council Emergency Fund and it has been working with a range of stakeholders involved in the Mansfield Health Partnership to explore other ways to help residents facing food insecurity.

The council is asking residents to let them know how food insecurity has affected them by completing an online survey here.

Coun Amanda Fisher, portfolio holder for communities and wellbeing, said: “Supporting vulnerable people has been a central part of the council's response to coronavirus and it is very good news indeed that this work can continue and expand in the future thanks to this funding.”