Magna Housing is helping seven food banks across Dorset and Somerset tackle hunger in local communities this Christmas.
The housing association has donated £500 each to seven, volunteer-run food banks:
- Dorchester FoodBank
- Dorchester Community Kitchen
- Lyme Regis Food Bank
- Quantock Foodbank in Watchet and Williton
- Sherborne Food Bank
- West Somerset Food Cupboard in Minehead
- Weymouth Food Bank
Alice Bagg, Head of Customer Experience and Homes Services for Magna, said:
“Food banks provide a much-needed lifeline for people in the communities where Magna has homes, including some of our customers.
“As we all know, Christmas is an especially hard time of year for many people. While, of course, we’d rather we didn’t need food banks, we’re happy to continue our annual support to help make sure no one goes without the essentials this winter.”
Tracy Hughes from Dorchester FoodBank said:
“We have certainly seen a huge increase in the number of clients seeking our support over the past year. And I’m sure that demand will increase still further.
“We are extremely grateful for Magna’s donation, which comes as we find ourselves regularly spending £2,500 or more every month in an effort to keep our shelves stocked.”
Marlene Mason from Quantock Foodbank said:
“We are really grateful to Magna for such a welcome boost in time for Christmas, especially as so many grocery items now seem to be nearly twice the price.
“We are supporting many of Magna’s families from around the area but, of course, some of them are without transport in villages where there is no bus service. We have taken steps to address this, with a new Electric Mobile Pantry vehicle thanks to a really amazing effort by the people of our area who have raised £100,000 for the project.”