Town Council supports food bank and motor show

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Wilmslow Town Council has awarded a grant of £10,000 to support the 'Food Friends' project and enable it to scale up its service.

The Food Bank is run and organised by St Bartholomew's Church and currently provides short term assistance to 30 individuals and families in Wilmslow.

Rev Paul Smith explained "The current economic climate and job insecurity has meant that a significant number of people are struggling to put food on the table for themselves and their families even if only for a short period of time. This is as true for apparently affluent communities like Wilmslow as for anywhere else.

"In June 2011 Wilmslow parish set up "Food Friend" to try to respond to this situation. The food was provided by members of the church and through fundraising activities organised by the church. Food Friend has also been supported by other churches, individuals and groups within the town, both with gifts of food, monetary donations, and practical help with sorting and packing the donated food. We continue to value and to be very grateful for their on-going help and support. However, increasingly we have not been able to meet the demand for food from people in genuine situations of need.

"We have therefore looked for ways of developing our Food Friend project so as to support as many people in need as possible. Wilmslow Town Council has very generously allocated £10,000 to the project. This will enable us to provide more food more often by having St Bartholomew's church open from 9am to 1pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week. Food will be brought to and distributed from church.

"We will still need church members to contribute food on the shopping list system as before. Our once per month Saturday distribution and coffee and company will continue, but we can now significantly expand and develop this service to the community with the money from the Town Council."

Rev Smith added "Inevitably, when people are struggling to provide food for themselves they are also often under other kinds of pressure as well. There will be a trained counsellor available at church to offer a listening ear and emotional support. There will also be information available concerning other organisations (e.g. the Citizens Advice Bureau) that clients may wish to contact.

"This work will begin when the church re-opens later in the year. In the mean time the necessary preparations will be made for what we hope will be an effective collaboration between church and council for the benefit of the most vulnerable members of our community."

Wilmslow Town Council also gave a grant of £4000 for the Wilmslow Motor Show at their meeting on Monday, 15th July. This funding will enable Wilmslow Business Group to build on the success of last year's inaugural event which is thought to have attracted 20,000 people into the town centre.

Steve Kennedy, owner of Mailboxes Etc on Water Lane and Wilmslow Motor Show 2013 Project Manager commented: "Last year's Motor Show brought 20,000 people in to the town centre. We are keen to build on last year and ensure that we deliver an even more spectacular day.

"The grant from Wilmslow Town Council will help us achieve this. We are really grateful to the Town Council for supporting this year's Show. Their grant will go towards marketing materials and safety equipment."

The 2013 Wilmslow Motor Show will take place on Saturday 7th September.

Tags:
Food Friends, Wilmslow Business Group, Wilmslow Motor Show, Wilmslow Town Council
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Peter Stubbs
Monday 22nd July 2013 at 10:26 am
After the debacle over the the Chair's Chain, the Council can take some credit for heeding the plea of Rev. Paul Smith of St Bartholomew's for support for the Food Friends project.

All too readily Wilmslow is crudely oversimplified as a town awash with wealth, whereas in fact it has its share of the disdvantaged and needy, who are finding life extremely hard in these difficult times, not even knowing where the next meal is coming from. The project is a lifeline for them, and the Council are to be congratulated on their unhesitating decision to devote £10,000 to this excellent cause.
Sally Hoare
Monday 22nd July 2013 at 3:59 pm
How refreshing to hear that the council are spending our money wisely. I had almost lost hope after the Regalia issue.
Peter Stubbs is right, the name Wilmslow seems to suggest wealth to a lot of people, but there are a lot of people struggling here as well.
Mark Goldsmith
Monday 22nd July 2013 at 4:05 pm
We spend £159 billion a year on welfare. That is £2,650 for every man, woman and child in the UK.

There is something very wrong with our welfare system if people have to go hungry despite all that money being spent.
Sarah Brown
Monday 22nd July 2013 at 7:34 pm
@Mark

Agreed there is something definitely wrong with the system, capping rent for both residents and businesses (so we don't end up with boarded up shops) and increasing the minimum wage to a living wage would help lower the bill and bring peoples head above water, the government shouldn't be topping up peoples wages with working tax credits or whatever it is now as it is essentially subsidising business who can then pay workers a meager wage, knowing the tax payer will top it up.

Also remember that £75bn of the welfare bill is pensioners, and £110 a week isn't alot to live on when the cost of living is so high.
Sally Hoare
Tuesday 23rd July 2013 at 4:38 pm
It is because Wilmslow is generally a wealthy area that families doing jobs that only pay basic wages cannot afford the rents. Working families need a living wage, they don`t want to be claiming benefits.
Thursday 25th July 2013 at 11:31 am
Well done Wilmslow Town Council! Food Friend is a great cause and it's good to know that when people are falling on hard times the community can respond not only with compassion but also with practical help. And well done to St Barts for organising such a great local initiative!