West Somerset Food Cupboard

We have had another busy month at the Food Cupboard with demand remaining high, which is understandable with the current financial climate. People really are struggling to stretch their budgets to meet all the demands of housing costs and general living costs. Food prices are significantly high and even what we call the staple foods like milk and sugar have seen dramatic price increases. Households are struggling to put a meal on the table, let alone try to provide a healthy choice of food.

The rising cost of food is also impacting our level of donations. We’re seeing a noticeable decline, as many people are finding it harder to add a few extra items to their shopping to support us. Combined with the growing demand for our services, these are challenging times for food banks.

At The Pantry, we’ve always worked hard to ensure our members have access to a healthy selection of meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables, dairy products, rice, and pasta. We source this primarily by purchasing surplus food from large supermarkets—food that would otherwise go to waste—alongside invaluable local donations of eggs, bread, and organic vegetables.

As demand for surplus food has increased significantly with the rise in food charities, our local supplies have become even more crucial. Without this support, we wouldn’t be able to provide weekly food parcels to 40 families in need.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who continues to contribute—whether through food donations or financial support. Every single act of generosity truly makes a difference in helping us support our local community.

Thank you for supporting us. We would be grateful for these items this month:

Tins of vegetables-peas, carrots, sweetcorn
• Pasta/Curry Sauce/stir in pasta sauce
• Tinned Meat & Fish -Corned beef, ham, tuna
• Squash bottles/Fruit Juice cartons
• Savoury Crackers/Bread sticks/Rice cakes
• Tinned Potatoes & Instant Mash Sachets
• Rice Pudding/Custard/Individual Puddings.
• Tinned Tomatoes
• Biscuits & Crisps
• UHT Milk 1 litre
• Rice
• Sugar
• Jam/Pickles and Chutneys
We are unable to distribute, chilled, frozen, damaged, out of-date or home-made items.
Thankyou
Charity Number: 1198591
Contact Us: info@wsfoodcupboard.org.uk
07795080637

All Saints’ Church, Wootton Courtenay, Tabletop sale

We have a wide variety of stalls at the tabletop sale on Saturday, 31st May in the Wootton Courtenay village hall (1030am to 4pm).  Here are the stalls to look out for on Saturday:

Marion Jay, Crockford Plants, will be selling a wide variety of plants.  Her tables will be in the centre of the hall.

Jamie and Lisa Waters will be representing Shelduck Photography with their photographic products and other items.

Nicole Stewart of ‘Amour Heart Gifts’ is your one-stop shop for beautiful heart themed gifts, cards, stationery and home decor.

Ro Hoyte will be selling her original artwork in the far corner by the stage. Seek her out.

Mark Oxtonby, one of our local photographers, will be selling his photographs and cards.

Veronica Clegg, another local artist, will be displaying and selling her artwork.

Paul and Nicky Scott will be generously selling plants from their ‘Dunkery Pleck’ garden, in aid of the church roof appeal.

Ingrid Popplewell has had a clear out and will be selling household goods.

Maggie Robertson has also had a clear out and will be selling household goods too.

A late addition to this venerable line up is Wootton Courtenay’s very own Silversmith, Brian O’Hara, who will be selling silver and metal ornaments and jewellery.

The Minehead branch of the Guide dogs for the Blind will be there and so will Heidrun Humphries with ‘Hoglets Hedgehog Rescue’.

There will be a small selection of homemade cakes on sale and an instant raffle with some great prizes to raise funds for the church.

And, all the way from West Wales, we are pleased to host ‘Cardigan Curiosities’ with their unique blend of antiques, vintage items and homeware – your one-stop treasure shop!

Refreshments are lavish and will be available to purchase all day. All this for just £1 entrance fee for adults, free for children.

If you can make it, I’d love to see you there.

Amanda Elliott

West Somerset Food Cupboard

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year.

I always feel this time of year gives us an opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves and look back on the things we did well and reflect on area that we may want to improve for the coming year. I believe all of us can give ourselves a good pat on the back for the work we achieved with the Food Cupboard during December. The donations flooded in and despite being a small charity we were able to step up when it was needed most. Distributing over 200 bags to families in the Minehead area before Christmas was a huge achievement. We were able to provide bags that not only included basic food options, but a very generous selection of Christmas treats and goodies. This is down to all the wonderful donations we receive from all our friends and supporters of the Food Cupboard. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart.

I was lucky enough to see the faces of the people that we support when they received their Christmas bag and share the tears and hugs from our recipients, and I can’t thankyou enough. I have had lovely feedback from the agencies/schools and organisations about how we made a difference to families at what can be a very difficult time of year.  We even managed to find a home for a rogue turkey at the 12th hour on Christmas eve, such a wonderful feeling to know how that can make such a difference to someone!

Thank you for all your ongoing support we cannot do the work we do without you.

Please find on the link  a copy of the latest wanted list if you could distribute as usual.

01-25 Food Request Jan 25

With Kind Regards.

Sara Trigg 

07795 080637

My working hours are 8.30-1.30 Mon, Tues, Thurs

www.wsfoodcupboard.org.uk 

Charity No. 1198591