Horncastle Food Bank receiving 1/4 of usual donations as cost of living bites

​Community Links, a new Horncastle CIC, offers a range of services in person, including help with filling out forms in paper or e-format, help with employment, dealing with loneliness, and referrals to other services for help, operating out of Horncastle Community Centre.

The organisation is now planning a Wellbeing Event where people who need face to face support on these points can speak to professional organisations, including Magna Vitae, Lincolnshire Housing Partnership, Barclays, Age UK, and Wellbeing Lincs.

The event will be held at the community centre on Thursday October 26 from 10am to 4pm.

Gail Boucher, support advisor for Community Links, said: “I’ve been helping a lot of people with things like blue badge applications, employment skills, and help with fuel poverty.

"A lot of people need that face to face help and people can come in on a Thursday and get help or signposted to the right people.”

The CIC incorporates Horncastle Community Food Larder, which offers an emergency food parcel for people struggling in the Horncastle area.

Co-ordinator Isabel Forrester said that so far this year, the food bank has handed out more than 300 food parcels – but the bank is struggling as the cost of living has been affecting their donations from the public.

The larder has seen just a quarter of their average donations being handed in, as they would normally see two full trollies of donated food a week from their donation point at Tesco in Horncastle, but they have been receiving just over two trollies worth across a whole month and they are currently spending around £1,000 a month on food staples to keep going.

"Over the past 18 months people have been struggling with the cost of living crisis and donations have definitely dropped off because they just don’t have that extra cash to spare,” she said.

The food bank’s volunteers has extended their thanks to those schools and organisations who have donated food and supplies during their harvest festivals – Horncastle Methodist Church, St Margaret’s at Thimbleby, Horncastle’s St Mary’s Church, All Saint’s at West Ashby, and Edward Richardson Primary School at Tetford.

"We’re so grateful for all the stock we’ve had from the harvest festivals and we feel a little more comfortable now,” she said, “But we really need to get our stocks up with the winter coming and we’re already seen a rise by a quarter of referrals compared to this time last year and we think things will only continue to rise.”

The food bank is currently in most urgent need of tinned vegetables, tinned meat products, tinned meat pies, soup, pasta, desserts such as custard sachets, jelly, rice pudding, tinned fruits, and Angel Delight, spreads, drinks such as UHT Milk, coffee, hot chocolate, and squash, toiletries including deodorant, sanitary products, razors and shaving soap, soap, dental products, toilet rolls, shampoo, and shower gel, and washing items such as washing powder or liquid and washing up liquid.

For the full list of wanted items, and where to donate your items, visit Horncastle Community Food Larder's website at https://www.horncastlecommunitylarder.co.uk/