School to make weekly donations to Calder Food Support to help meet increasing demand

Kitchen staff carrying out Friday afternoon stock checks found themselves in a dilemma with setting aside good food which would not be fit for consumption after the weekend.

Andy Taylor, Head of Calder High School, said: “We are very aware that many families in our school community are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

"At Calder we pride ourselves in caring - it is one of our school values.

"We already have a community cupboard in school stocked with supplies of dried foods, breakfast bars and hygiene projects so when Geraldine from St Michaels Church introduced us to the concept of donating our food which would be out of date over the weekend it made sense to donate it to the local community.”

Bernice Hayes, Chair of Calder Food Support, visited school on Friday to view the type of food that is available, and an agreement was made to donate left-over stocks of fresh food at the end of each week to their food bank. Supplies of late date fresh food are received from Tesco and organic vegetables from Pennine Cropshare.

“Demand for food has increased since the food bank was set up in June 2022,” she said.

"We follow the guidelines set up by Trussell Trust when making up bags of food. Last summer we were making up about 20 bags at a time, but this has increased to 60 bags - such is the demand,

"The whole operation operates from St Michael’s Church in the centre of Mytholmroyd.

"Food is collected, donated and sorted into food bags. Food banks are held each week, Saturday morning between 10.30am and 12.30am, Hebden Bridge surgery on a Wednesday between 10am and 12pm and on the Kershaw Estate, Luddenden Foot on a Tuesday between 1pm and 5pm.

“The support received from St Michaels Church is phenomenal – they provide us with a dedicated space in which to run our operation.”

For further information contact Bridget Batty on [email protected] or call 01422 883213.