Milton Keynes City Council has given £20,000 to charity SOFEA to support struggling families during the cost-of-living crisis through its community larder projects.
Community larders serve as a local neighbourhood club which requires a subscription.
The aim of the larders is to save waste and gives people access to cheaper food, a chance to meet neighbours and access services to support with the cost-of-living.
The City Council’s donation means that the community larders will be able to stock an additional 14 tonnes of surplus food, providing the equivalent of 2,300 family-size weekly shops. People using SOFEA’s community larders don’t need to be means tested or on specific benefits.
SOFEA’s national partner, FareShare UK provide surplus food to eight food larders across MK. A full list of food larder locations can be found on the SOFEA website.
MK City Council declared a ‘cost-of-living emergency’ last month and has allocated more than £18m in support for struggling residents.
Its Winter Plan includes extra funding for local initiatives that provide food and domestic essentials along with projects that can offset or reduce energy bills. As part of this, the City Council is funding a free helpline offering advice to residents on how to get support with energy costs and has donated an extra £80,000 to MK Foodbank.
The City Council is also providing supermarket vouchers to hungry families during the school holidays.
Cabinet Member for Tackling Social Inequalities, Cllr Jane Carr said: “We’re proud to be supporting SOFEA’s community larders, which provide an important service for local people. It’s thanks to projects like these and people’s generosity that give families hope during these testing times.
“Our Winter Plan sets out a range of support available for people struggling with the cost-of-living and we’ll continue rolling our further initiatives to help our residents.”
