North Wales woman is inspired by poverty to start food group

Oct 15 2009 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

THE founder of a food sharing co-operative has spoken of how her own experience of poverty inspired her to launch a community scheme

Founder of Cymru Community Foodshare Michelle Garner spoke of how she had to suffer more than two months of uncertainty after her husband lost his job.

“Lee lost his job a week before Christmas, the family were devastated,” explained Michelle.

“He had never been out of work before and the last thing he wanted to do was claim benefits.

“It wasn’t until nearly six weeks had passed before he finally made a claim for Job Seekers’ Allowance, by which time we had spent all our savings and had no money to support ourselves.

“It was a further three and half weeks before we received any money due to a backlog of claims over the Christmas period.

“Fortunately, family members offered support by buying food and giving us money to pay the bills.

“Shortly afterwards Lee found a new job and was able to sign off,” she said.

“The experience caused me to reflect on how fortunate we were to have support from our family, and I started to think about how other people in the same position would fare if they didn’t have anyone who could help.

“With the current economic climate, more and more people are finding themselves in a situation where they are unable to feed themselves or their family.

“I decided to use my experience to help others struggling to put food on the table.”

Michelle started discovered the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity donating food parcels to the needy.

With the help of i61 Church in Llandudno, Michelle and her team used the Trussell Trust as a model for Cymru Community Foodshare.

Recently, they received an Awards for All grant from the Big Lottery fund which enabled them to pay the expenses of volunteer drivers who deliver the food parcels across Conwy county.

Michelle added: “It is so easy to feel ashamed to ask for help, to feel a failure when you can’t support your family.

“There are many other families in the same situation, feeling afraid that they won’t be able to feed their children today. If we don’t help, it’s we who should be ashamed.”

According to the Government’s own statistics there are 13 million people in Britain living below the poverty line today.

Llandudno Junction councillor Linda Hurr supports the scheme: “Figures show that some of our own wards in Conwy fall within the top 10% of deprived areas in Wales.

“It just takes a delay in benefits, an unexpected bill or an emotional crisis to put many people into a situation where they are unable to feed themselves or their family. We are here to help.”

Food is donated to the scheme from the community outside supermarkets, in local schools and churches.

So far, St David’s College, Ysgol Maelgwyn, Ysgol Gogarth and Ysgol Nant-y-Coed have all donated their harvest offerings. Local churches have also dedicated their harvest festivals to the charity.

As needs arise more agencies including Social Services, Jobcentre staff, probation officers, health visitors, Citizens Advice Bureau and Women's Aid are all referring their clients to the project.

If you would like to help you can drop off food donations at Bryn Morfa Holiday Park, Conwy,Šor Prince’s Drive Baptist Church in Colwyn Bay. Log on to www.ccfoodshare.org