New home for lifeline Lochinver food service
A ‘LIFELINE’ service which was started in a north west Sutherland community as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is to continue out of purpose built, new premises.
When Covid-19 struck last year and the first lockdown was imposed, Assynt Resilience Group (ARG) linked with other groups and charities in the Lochinver area to set up a foodbank.
It initially operated out of Assynt Leisure Centre before moving to a room in the village hall.
Bags of food containing both fresh, tinned and dried goods were available throughout the crisis to local residents, many of whom were badly affected by the closure of B&Bs and hotels and the lack of seasonal work.
Assynt Resilience Group food representative William Smith said the need for a foodbank had been “pretty quick to emerge”.
Food items was sourced from social enterprise CFine Fareshare and initially picked up by volunteers from a drop-off point at Dornoch before CFine began delivering to Lochinver.
More than a year on from the initial lockdown, the foodbank is still operating but has moved again, this time to a wooden structure located beside the leisure centre and built with funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Mr Smith said: “The foodbank is open to any person requiring food in the Lochinver area. It will be open on a daily basis, but has a timelock on so will be closed for certain time periods.
“We are continuing to work with Cfine and are extending our range to include frozen and chilled goods in a new fridge and freezer.
He added: “A new group is looking to be a part of running the food larder and the ARG can take a step back to look at other projects.”
A foodbank user said: “The family pressures we’ve faced this last year have been immense and it is costly to buy food locally. The foodbank has been a lifeline. We are really grateful for the help.”
