When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Stella West-Harling turned her community café on the edge of Dartmoor into a food distribution centre to help those struggling to access shops and afford essential items.
West-Harling, 76, founder and chief executive of Ashburton Cookery School, then teamed up with her daughter Rachel Harrison-French, a former primary school teacher. Their aim was to establish community larders in villages and towns around south Devon, with the help of FareShare South West, a surplus food redistribution charity.
This initiative was powered by emergency government funding during the pandemic, which aimed to help food redistribution charities across England ensure the nation was fed.
However, when the pandemic receded and the funding ceased, the mother-and-daughter team decided they could not cut the support they had seen was badly needed in many communities. Instead they founded Feeding Devon, a non-profit membership organisation, which now has 100 volunteers running seven affordable food clubs and six community fridges across towns and villages in the area.
‘People cannot manage without us’
Anyone suffering from food insecurity and the cost of living crisis can become a member of one of the weekly affordable food clubs. For £5, members get a shopping bag full of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread and hygiene products, which in a supermarket could cost around £25.
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“In one sense we shouldn’t need to be here but we are acting as a benefit for the community because the cost of living has caused so much hardship,” West-Harling said. “People cannot manage without us, that is the sad truth. They are not coming in here for anything other than help with their basic needs. Nothing here is fancy but it’s good food and it’s affordable.”
The food comes from FareShare South West but Warburtons, the baking firm, donates 200 loaves of bread a week to be taken for free by customers from the food hubs.
As well as food and hygiene products, the project organises for other agencies to be present at the food hubs to offer help such as healthcare advice and assistance in accessing state benefits. They recently helped a mother realise that she could receive child benefit for her third and fourth children, which she had thought applied to only her first two children, saving her £60 a month.
The affordable food clubs are open for an hour once a week, often inside a church hall given free of charge to the organisation.
A welcoming community
When The Times visited the food hub in the Methodist church hall of Bovey Tracey, a small town on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, half the room was filled with people enjoying a homemade leek and potato soup with cheese croutons. The other half had foldout tables stacked with fruits and vegetables.
Cooked by Peter Little, 73, a retired catering teacher who once worked at the Savoy hotel, the soup is free to eat (with a suggested donation of £1) every Tuesday from 11.30am, before the affordable food club opens for members at midday.
Les Brealey, 95, a former stonemason who lives alone in an almshouse in the town, is the oldest customer and has been coming every week for the past year.
“More or less it’s for the company,” he said. “Although I do use the food hub to get some potatoes and onions and put a donation in, I meet so many different people down here who talk to me. Just this week I heard one of my school friends died, so I’m being left on my own. When I come down here it’s the company that’s the draw.”
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Tara, 44, who came with her son Oscar, 3, for the hot lunch and a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, has been a member for just over a year. “For us it’s helped because my husband, who works in construction, hurt his back and was out of work for six months so we lost a full time income and I only work part-time,” she said.
She would not speak to anyone the first time she came to the food hub because she felt there was a stigma in asking for help to feed her family.
“The good thing is you are still paying,” she said. “When me and my husband had a bit more money we paid for someone else that needed it. It’s nice to come on a Tuesday and have a coffee and soup.”
The challenges of rural locations
Harrison-French, project manager of Feeding Devon, said: “We operate in some very rural locations where the bus might only be once a week.
“Our only requirement is you have to be affected by the cost of living crisis. You can be on low income, a pensioner or in any form of food crisis or experiencing unexpected expenses. In rural areas people are prioritising keeping the car on the road to get to work over food.
“A lot of our members are in professional employment and sometimes there are two workers in a household. Large families can get two or three bags from us — and by saving £10 it can be the difference between a child continuing with an after-school club.”
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Feeding Devon is a partner with Feeding Britain, one of the three charities being supported this year by The Times and The Sunday Times Christmas Appeal 2023. It works to prevent and eliminate hunger and destitution in the UK.
Across its 85 regional and local networks there are 350 food clubs, pantries and social supermarkets helping people on low incomes stretch their budgets further and access nutritious food.
Feeding Britain
Harrison-French said that Feeding Britain’s help had been invaluable, including initial funding to get their operation off the ground and continued help and advice.
“Feeding Britain helped pay for our van and the storage facilities that we have had for two years, but more than that they have shared such an enormous wealth of information and best practice with us,” she said.
Gene Joyner, chief executive of FareShare South West, said that it had supported Feeding Devon with 19,000 kg of food, the equivalent of 45,000 meals, in the past year. “That food means so much more than a full belly: it means children who are able to concentrate in school, reduced mental stress for families under pressure, and a powerful connection with the local community for all,” he said.
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“By reducing waste, it’s also environmentally friendly, with 49 tonnes of CO2 diverted by Feeding Devon’s food support alone.”
Readers’ donations to Feeding Britain will be matched up to £40,000 with Prezzo, the Italian restaurant chain, agreeing to match each pound donated by readers of The Times and Sunday Times up to £15,000. A further £10,000 will be matched by the Henry Oldfield Trust and £15,000 by an anonymous donor.
To donate to The Times and Sunday Times Christmas Appeal visit thetimes.co.uk/christmasappeal or call 0151 284 2336.
