Hereford Meals Financial institution vows to hold on regardless of setback

A foodbank has reassured prospects it’s going to “still be going” regardless of information it has needed to go away its base in Hereford.

FoodShare in St Martin's Hereford was instructed final Friday it needed to stop serving with rapid impact.

The group had been primarily based in St Martin's Church, Hereford since 2019, however for monetary, staffing and sensible causes it has felt the necessity to change location, and has promised to stay in place till a later opening.

Cat Hornsey, the charity's co-ordinator, mentioned: “FoodShare will not go away. We have a dedicated team of volunteers behind the scenes and we work with some amazing people.”

He added, “It's still going to go on, we just need a little help to keep the momentum going.”

Ms Hornby additionally suggested prospects to remain tuned to social media for updates, however mentioned the plan was to proceed from a brand new location simply two days after the transfer

In an announcement, the charity mentioned it was “unable to maintain the service [where it is] Due to lack of long-term funding”.

Financial help is required to take care of meals storage services together with fridges and freezers, run a group van with chiller services and keep working licenses for meals transportation.

The charity additionally mentioned it had change into a “burden” to fill the submit of co-ordinator, which has been vacant because the spring.

It mentioned it was “proving difficult” to fill, particularly after the pastor left in September, with recruitment for his substitute not but begun.

Churchwarden Gillian mentioned: “We are devastated and have found this decision very difficult to make.

“We are grateful for the support given to us by the team at the Diocese of Hereford, who are working to find alternative solutions.

“So far we have not been able to find new funding, new premises or a leader to coordinate our actions.

“We know everyone who comes to our FoodShare appreciates this service. We didn't make this decision lightly.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Hereford said: “We want to reassure the community that the Diocese has every intention of enabling FoodShare to continue and we recognize the distress this disruption to the FoodShare service is causing.

“The Diocese has been working behind the scenes for the past 10 days since hearing about the possible closure to try to find an interim solution and we are hopeful that we will be able to continue FoodShare for the long term.”