Barry foodshare charity wins signifcant appeal grant

The Our Communities Together – a cost-of-living crisis fund, run by Community Foundation Wales in partnership with the Barry & District News, has awarded the Castleland Community Association a grant totalling more than £12,000, to be split equally over the next three years.

The grant has been awarded as part of the Our Communities Together appeal (Image: Newsquest)

They run several in-house activities and services at the Community Centre in Barry, including a foodshare project providing free food from partners Greggs and Tesco to people as part of their FareShare initiative.

The foodshare has been running for more than seven years and has become one of the busiest, and most successful projects within the Vale of Glamorgan, prompting other charities to begin new initiatives.

Other services also include a free ‘warm space’ for the community to use and the upkeep of the community park.

There is a mix of people using the food service, including those on benefits, single mums, the elderly and the unemployed.

Founder Helen Jones said: “We are open every Wednesday and have six dedicated volunteers who either collect the food from various supermarkets and outlets, sort and display the food, disperse items and/or clean the the fridges and surfaces.

“Most of the users are wholly reliant on our foodshare as part of their weekly shopping budget especially since the high inflation rise on groceries. We need to make sure we keep our shelves stocked with long-life items to help those in need within the community.”

“Everyone is able to use the service with no questions asked and we have disabled access to the centre. Our volunteers disperse the food equally making sure even those at the end of the queue have something to take home.”

The Castleland Community Association mainly runs a busy foodshare venture (Image: Castleland Community Association)Ms Jones says they serve around 50 families a week and have noticed a significant increase in need for the service since January 2023. 

The charity works in partnership with a number of big companies, including Co-op, Lidl, KFC and Fareshare Cymru.

This ensures they have a regular stock of food for customers, while also assisting in the fight against landfill waste. According to Ms Jones, they have collected more than 17,000 kilos of from Tesco alone to date, which is equivalent to more than 40,000 meals.

Alongside the foodshare, the charity works alongside third-sector organisations that provide helpful advice on other areas where people are feeling the pinch, such as household utility bills, as well as supporting the unemployed with Employability Wales’s CV writing workshops.

The charity helps around 50 families a week and works with big name companies including Tesco and Greggs to have a regular stock of food (Image: Castleland Community Association)Ms Jones believes the grant will give them future security to keep supporting those who need them.  She said: “A multi-year grant gives us a sense of security whilst we look ahead to future proof the service and look at longer-term goals as the current climate is so volatile now.

 “It will reduce further administration looking at other grant applications and help us to support new ventures within the foodshare project, for example, expanding into cookery classes.”

You can find out more about the charity by visiting their website. 

After success stories such as these, we are delighted to be reopening the appeal for next year, and you can donate or apply for funding here.