Kendal bakery Lovingly Artisan is supporting two volunteer-led projects delivered by South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).
Following the temporary suspension of the Kendal’s People’s Café in March 2020, Waste into Wellbeing developed the food shares project, which they delivered throughout 2020 in response to the pandemic.
Now running two weekly community food shares at Stricklandgate House and the Hallgarth Community Centre, Kendal, Waste Into Wellbeing is providing vital support to struggling households, enabling all families to be able to eat a healthy, balanced, and nutritious diet, regardless of their income.
In 2020 Waste Into Wellbeing redistributed 5,041kg of food that would have otherwise gone into landfill, delivered 733 Lunch Bunch meals to elderly members of the community and shared 2,995 bags of groceries helping some 8,500 people in the process and that was all delivered by a group of dedicated volunteers and 2,268 hours of their time to help improve people’s lives.
Some of the food provided has been donated by local food retailers including the likes of Lovingly Artisan Bakery, while the majority is donated by environmentally conscious businesses who want to see their surplus food support the community rather than resulting in landfill.
Alongside that Waste into Wellbeing also collaborates with the nurses and carers of the local NHS Integrated Care in the Community team to support Lunch Bunch.
Catherine Connor, co-owner of Lovingly Artisan Bakery, said: ‘’We’ve always had our community at the heart of what we do, and as many will no doubt know we are all about health and wellbeing.
“Which is why when we asked if we could help out by the team we said yes without hesitation.
“Each month we bake a special batch of bread for around 60 local families who need support and provide bread for the 40 or so regular Lunch Bunch diners, it’s not much to ask but it really makes a difference.
“We’re happy that we can support Waste Into Wellbeing in our own way, and we’d encourage as many local food businesses as possible to get involved. Especially as more people will need it’s support in the coming weeks and months.’’
Duncan Pollard, one of SLACC’s lead volunteers, said: “The fresh bread provided by Lovingly Artisan is a fantastic contribution to our food share. It is highly appreciated and always generates excitement and a great talking point for everyone involved. We are delighted to partner with passionate local businesses like Lovingly Artisan.”
