Volunteers who helped to save a vital village food hub have been praised for helping to bring the community together, a year on from fears it was likely to close.
It’s when you hear from the people who volunteer at Bridgend’s Larder food hub that you realise that it is much more than a Thursday night village shop.
There’s no doubt that it gives villagers access to good food that is fairly priced, but the real bargains are things you cannot put a price on.
It’s the social contact, talking to someone who’ll ask how things are going, who’ll ask after the family.
As Christine Paxton, one volunteer put it, the people coming through the door aren’t just customers: “they are people I have become friends with. That is invaluable.”
A year ago Christine realised the larder, which runs out of the village community centre, was struggling. Funding cuts meant that it could no longer provide varied, consistent food.
The larder has re-established an account with the Neighbourly scheme which supplies donations from Aldi, Sainsbury and Marks and Spencer. However, it did not always have a variety of food to provide nutritious meals. Without charitable status the volunteers at the food hub came up against barriers to other food sources.
Another long-established group in the village Youthspace provided the foundation for the Larder to set up an account with Fairshare, helping it to provide a good range of food and support on a regular basis, and one which includes fresh fruit and vegetables.
Paying tribute to the work of the volunteers Councillor Pauline Orr said: “Just one year ago the Food Hub was struggling. It was in danger of closing until Christine recognised the need to revitalise it. Tina Nicol and her partner Andy Mackay quickly came on board, and I offered my time to support them.”
Tina and Andy are now regulars at the larder, both recognising that it is not just the access to fairly priced cupboard essentials and fresh food that the weekly store provides.
Tina said: “The Larder is important to the community and the people who use it. It is clear to me that people rely on us from week to week.
“Support can come in many forms and socialising with our customers and checking in with them is something that is very important to me.”
Her partner Andy said working at the Larder has helped him establish his home in Bridgend: “I have found volunteering at the Larder really rewarding as it has helped me to settle into the community and make new friends.”
Another volunteer who has benefited from help offered by volunteers and the food now offers her time to give something back to the village.
Lucy Reid said: “The Larder has helped me loads, and I’m very grateful. This is why I volunteer, to say thank you.
“I want to help those who are in a similar position to what I found myself in recently.”
Lucy’s joining the volunteer roster was a big help to the volunteering team at increasingly busy food hub.
Councillor Orr told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The food hub has stabilised and grown, and it is down to the sheer hard work and determination of the group, and I am incredibly proud of them.”
Councillor Orr said that the time all four volunteers give to the larder each week is “staggering”, from ordering food on a Monday, collecting from suppliers and filling the shelves and fridges on a Wednesday before opening on the next day.
The hub now welcomes around 40 visitors each week, queues often forming before opening.
Councillor Orr said: “It has become a lifeline for many villagers, not just for food but for friendship and connection. It draws people from the neighbouring villages of Philpstoun and Threemiletown and wider and offers a friendly point of contact for those feeling otherwise isolated.
“With exciting new plans on the horizon, the future for the hub looks very bright.”
Next steps include speaking to local butchers with a view to offering fresh meat and poultry and looking further ahead, Andy has plans to open a tool library working alongside the Linlithgow Community Development Trust to enable people in the village the chance to borrow gardening tools and decorating equipment.
The team is also working alongside the Regeneration Team from West Lothian Council and hope to host advice sessions from council services such as Citizens Advice and The Advice Shop.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
