WCFD January Newsletter
Welcome to the January edition of the Wales Community Food Distribution (WCFD) newsletter. In this newsletter, we will share project updates and the latest events.
Milford Haven Food Hub is Open!
The Milford Haven Food Hub located at PATCH Charity Shop on Charles Street is now open.
We would like to thank all at PATCH, the volunteers and everyone who joined us at the launch on 30th November. It was great to meet so many members of the community and talk about the initiative. Pure West Radio was on site for live coverage, and our thanks go to Town Councillor Martin Jones who officially opened the hub.
The food hub will now be open every Wednesday 12-2pm to place or pick up orders of fresh vegetables, fruit or salad. Our fantastic volunteers are always happy to chat about how the hub works, offer suggestions around recipes, and they would love to hear about what food you would like to see on offer in the future. Additional volunteers are needed to support this hub, so if you are interested in helping out please get in touch!
Fern from the team commented, “It’s fantastic to be able to partner up with PATCH Charity and local supplier Fresh and Fruity to offer excellent value, fresh produce to local people”.
Take a look at our video which demonstrates the great work of food hubs during 2022.
Project Updates
Events
The team was delighted to present at the Wales Real Food and Farming Conference on Fresh Food Vending as a Method of Distribution in November.
Resources
A useful guide to your local food projects infographic has been developed and is now available on the resources page on our website. Download here.
Volunteer Training
Book your space on 13 January 2023 for ‘Increasing Your Food Offer and Social Media Training’ here.
The training will include a refresher in the food hub induction for volunteers. Leading on from this, the training will lead into InSynch Training on Social Media and then a further session on Digital Marketing. Book your space here
11 more food hubs coming across the region in 2023!
During 2022, 4 Community run food hubs were launched across Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. These hubs are serving 80+ regular customers who are saving on their weekly food shop. They are run by 20+ volunteers and supplied by 50+ suppliers. Food from suppliers to food hubs are traveling within 26km radius and 50% of vegetables are grown locally.
Check out an overview of the achievements of WCFD during 2022 here.
We look forward to 11 more food hubs coming across the region this year, with more food options also in the works.
PFCV Update
We don't have pictures of our shiny new machines yet BUT we have received some plan drawings and also a confirmation that the machines have been loaded onto the ship and are currently sailing their way over to us. It’s really exciting times for the PFCV Project team as we edge closer and closer to being able to confirm a launch date...watch this space for updates and we'll see you in person with our new machines very very soon!
Hear from some of our suppliers in the PLANED Podcasts
Supplier Spotlight
We’re fortunate enough to have two incredible suppliers who deliver fresh, delicious vegetables to our hubs every week. Between them, they have delivered over 600kg of fresh produce to our hubs, shortening food miles, providing good value fresh and healthy food, and supporting local growers. All of us at WCFD are grateful for their hard work and dedication to the project- we couldn’t do it without them!
Fresh & Fruity
Fresh & Fruity are a hardworking, family-run grower and retailer of fresh fruit, veg and salad in the heart of Milford Haven. They are supplying WCFD’s hubs in Tenby and Milford Haven, where they provide delicious fruit, veg and salad to the hub’s customers.
So far Fresh & Fruity have delivered a total of 44 food boxes, which is an incredible 88kgs of fresh food to local communities. Thanks to their contribution to our hub our customers have saved an average of £6.47 per shop on their groceries.
Dai’s Five a Day
Dai’s Five a Day has been offering fresh and local produce for over 5 years, and recently have been working with WCFD to supply Foundry House, Pembroke’s hub. Their friendly, knowledgeable staff are always a delight, and their passion for high quality produce drives their business to be a staple of Pembroke Dock.
So far Dai’s Five a Day have supplied over 200 food boxes, which amounts to an average of 500 kgs of fresh fruit, veg and salad delivered to our hub. They have saved our customers at Foundry House an average of £6.38 per average shop. That’s a total saving of over a truly incredible £1,200 for all our customers at the hub.
Image Courtesy: Janine
Lampeter Food Hub
Lampeter’s Food Hub will be back in the New Year with a new supplier and the launch of their slow cooker club.
Volunteer Vacancies
Are you looking for an opportunity to volunteer in the New Year? Our food hubs in Lampeter and Tenby need enthusiastic volunteers to help with running the food hubs. There are many benefits to volunteering including making new community connections, developing and learning new skills and opportunities to participate in free training courses, whilst helping increase access to fresh and good value food for your community.
Contact WCFD@planed.org.uk for more information.
Get in touch!
If you would like to talk to the team about supplying, supporting or running a community food hub, please get in touch at wcfd@planed.org.uk
Part of a community group that would benefit from a food hub? Have a space to host it? Ready to submit an expression of interest? Follow the link here
Want to keep up to date with us?
Check out our social media and you can also check out our monthly reels.
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Or contact us: WCFD@planed.org.uk