News MBC Park Wood Community Larder officially opened
The new Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) Community Larder was officially opened in Park Wood today in partnership with Golding Homes.
The Council introduced the larder following the success of a similar scheme in Shepway which opened last year. The Park Wood Larder is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am to 1pm, and is available to anyone who lives in the area who may be struggling to afford to buy food.
Park Wood residents will be warmly welcomed when they pop in to the larder based at the Golding Homes' Rosemary Graham Day Centre, Somner Walk, where they will be greeted with a hot drink and a smile from the team. For a small donation of £3 per visit, they can choose up to 10 items from the store, two chilled items, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Cllr Claudine Russell, Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Arts at MBC said:
We have been so pleased to be able to have opened the second Maidstone Borough Council Community Larder here in Park Wood; the Council was able to secure funding through the West Kent Health and Care Partnership to open the facility following on from the one in Shepway which has seen more than 1,700 customers in less than a year of opening.MBC introduced the larders in response to health inequalities insight work with residents who identified food insecurity as their main concern and we hope that they will help anyone in the area who may be struggling.
The MBC Community Larder team is so grateful to the volunteers who come in to the hubs to help. They have worked with local supermarkets, restaurants, and Fare Share to provide the food which is available to local residents.
The Shepway Larder is regularly visited by 280 people each week and recently received a Kent Housing Group Excellence Award in recognition of the great work and support it provides to the community.
Claudine continued:
Congratulations to the team at the Shepway Larder – this award is a fantastic achievement and recognises all that they are doing for the people in that area of Maidstone. Thank you to everyone involved in the project.
For more information about the Park Wood Community Larder email: communitylarder@maidstone.gov.uk or call Sara Shrager Project Coordinator on 07752 562575.