Second Bread and Butter Thing food hub to open at Church of the Ascension in Grantham

A second affordable food hub is to open to help people in need in a town.

Grantham will be getting its second Bread and Butter Thing within a year as another will open at the Church of Ascension in Edinburgh Road, on Monday (February 3) to serve the Harrowby area.

The first opened in the West Grantham Community Centre, in Trent Road, back in August.

The Reverend Samantha Parsons, who will help to oversee it in Harrowby, said: “We are really excited to be opening this.

“Everybody is struggling with the cost of living crisis, with the winter fuel allowance and with energy prices going up.

“I think anything we can do to relieve people a bit and enable them to get help is good.

“It’s also reducing food waste which is even better. I think particularly for those people in the Harrowby area, it’s very important.”

District and town councillor Tim Harrison (Ind) approached Rev Samantha with the idea of opening another hub in Grantham.

“I said we didn’t have enough volunteers, but he [Coun Harrison] said he could get volunteers to come down from Earlesfield,” added Samantha.

She said: “I have managed to get a few more volunteers.

“We would not be able to do this without volunteers. The more volunteers we have the better as bags will get packed quicker and the food gets out quicker.”

The Bread and Butter Thing is a national charity that provides food at a lower price, aiming to help families in need and reduce food waste.

The food and bookings are sorted by the charity, and this will then be packed and distributed by the volunteers.

A package includes a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, fridge goods and cupboard goods.

For an individual person, it costs £5 for a package. For a family, which includes three bags, it costs £8.50, and for a larger family, they get two packages for £17.

The Rev Samantha added: “It just breaks my heart that food is waste and there are people that are hungry.

“So, trying to reduce the food waste and helping people that are struggling seems to be a winner all round.”

The hub, which will run every Monday from 1pm until 1.30pm, will follow the church’s wellbeing cafe that also runs weekly from 10am until midday.

The Rev Samantha hopes this will encourage people to make use of the hub.

She added: “The wellbeing cafe is basically a glorified coffee morning.

“There are cakes, games and wellbeing activities. We are trying to tie it in with what we are already doing.

“It’s free. At the church, we run activities that are free with donations so everyone can come.

“We want everyone to feel that this is for everyone.”

There will be around 80 packages of food available each week.

People who wish to get one will have to reserve one a few days before.

The Rev Samantha added: “People have until 10am the following morning to reserve it but we have been told to try and get people to do it as soon as they get a message.

“If someone doesn’t get a package one week, hopefully they will be able to get one the following week.”

As well as being the second hub in Grantham, this will be the fourth in Lincolnshire, as there is one in Market Deeping and another in Stamford.

Looking to the future, the Rev Samantha said: “My hope is that everyone in Harrowby that needs it will be able to access it just and just relieve some pressure of individuals and families that are finding things really hard.”

To find out more about the charity, go to https://www.breadandbutterthing.org/.

Anyone who wishes to use the hub can text 07860 063304 with their full name, postcode and name of the hub.