Broadstairs and St Peter’s Town Mayor presents cheque to Thanet Food Link
Cllr Kristian Bright, Mayor of Broadstairs and St Peter’s was pleased to attend Thanet Food Link’s base at St Peter’s Baptist Church recently and present volunteers there with a cheque for £2000 from KCC’s Cost of Living Grant scheme. The Mayor and his Consort, Cllr Joanne Bright received a warm welcome and were given a guided tour of the facility.
Deputy Mayor, Cllr Mike Garner, himself a volunteer at the Food Link explained the need for the organisation and the service it provides, “The cost-of-living crisis is having a detrimental effect on families’ ability to provide sufficient nutritious food. Although often perceived as an affluent town, pockets of deprivation exist in Broadstairs, and children are regularly going to school hungry. The problem worsens during school holidays when free school meals are not available.”
Thanet Food Link is ideally placed to address this need with established procedures which successfully plug the gap and enable families to eat properly. The organisation typically feeds 1000 people per month, with demand doubling over the last year.
St Peter’s Branch Co-ordinator, Kate Grant says, “Although much of the food given out by the Food Link is donated by members of the public, donations have dropped off recently due to everyone experiencing a “squeeze”. The Food Link will use the cash donations it receives when necessary, but these are becoming depleted. A food parcel costs around £10 and each is tailored to the needs of children, teens or adults. We are thrilled to accept this grant which will provide a fantastic 200 food parcels and we would like to thank both KCC and BSPTC for applying on our behalf.”
The first step for nay one experiencing hardship who thinks the Food Link might be able to help would be to check out their website https://thanetfoodlink.org.uk/getting-help
Cllr Bright is newly elected both as a Town Councillor and a District Councillor and his welcome speech on the evening he was elected Town Mayor set out his aims for the coming four years. He is striving for a “Safer, Cleaner, Kinder” Broadstairs.