Church launching foodbank to help feed people in need

Holy Trinity Church in Wingate is set to become a distribution point for County Durham Foodbank.

A team of 16 volunteers have come forward to run the foodbank, which will open for the first time on Saturday, from 10am to noon.

Rev Canon Jane Grieve, the vicar for Wingate, Wheatley Hill and Thornley, said this will be the 28th emergency distribution point across the county.

She said: “Anyone with a red voucher from a referral agency will be able to call in for a food parcel.

“We also plan to serve free cereals, toast and hot drinks to anyone who would like to drop in, and to shortly have the technology to offer a couple of laptops connected to the internet for jobsearches and filling in forms for people who don’t have internet access.”

Rev Grieve said almost all the volunteers are members of Holy Trinity Church and the sister parish of All Saints’ Wheatley Hill, but they have had a lot of support from Wingate Parish Council and Wingate Community Centre.

The setting up of the foodbank follows on from an initiative at Wellfield School where staff and pupils collected much needed food to provde meals for families over the Christmas period.

Now, all the schools and the children’s centres in the area have agreed to become referral agencies for the foodbank.

Rev Grieve said: “We anticipate a slow start, as it will take a while for the red vouchers to include mention of our distribution point, but are confident we will soon be filling a real need for local people in crisis.”

Holy Trinity Church will be taking donations for the foodbanks and Wingate Co-op also have a donation trolley in the store where people can place items.

The foodbank in the village is due to be open on Saturday mornings from 10am to noon, Sunday mornings from 10am to 10.30am and Wednesday mornings from 10.20am to 11am, following church services.