A PUBLIC meeting in Dulverton saw about 50 people step forward with offers to help the Moorland Food Bank continue to support families struggling to feed themselves.
But, nobody answered the call for a new food bank co-ordinator to take over from Jenny Barker, who is stepping down on December 31 after founding and running the charity with the help of eight volunteers since the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The food bank, which has helped hundreds of families across the southern Exmoor area, now has six weeks to fill the co-ordinator role if it is to be able to continue running in the longer-term.
Almost all those who attended Monday’s meeting in the Riverside Youth Club completed expression of interest forms to be a volunteer or trustee or to help in some way with the charity, and there was even a donation of a fridge/freezer.
However, Ms Barker said: “The one problem we came across was, nobody wanted to be me.
“It was lovely to see so many people there and asking questions and filling in the expression of interest forms.
“Everybody was fantastic, nobody wanted to see us close.
“Nobody queried the need for the food bank, everybody understood the need for it.
“We are following up with everybody who offered to be volunteers or trustees very soon, but we will still be short of a food bank co-ordinator.”
Ms Barker said a steering group meeting was being held this week to discuss the situation, as the food bank needed to be formed into a new organisation to move forward over the next five years.
She said project manager Ali Sanderson, who until earlier this year was West Somerset Food Cupboard co-ordinator, had some contacts whom she could approach regarding the co-ordinator role.
The food bank has now permanently relocated its operations to the youth club premises in Kemps Way, after it had been using a Dulverton Junior School building which was no longer fit for purpose and is due to be given back to Somerset Council next spring.
Three hundred food parcels were delivered across an area covering Dulverton, Brushford, Bridgetown, Brompton Regis, Wheddon Cross, Winsford, Withypool, Exford, and other communities from August to September this year, helping about 650 people.
Ms Barker said the figures showed demand for the charity’s help had not dropped off since the end of the pandemic.
However, it now needed to be a standalone organisation rather than an offshoot of the food cupboard to make it easier to obtain grant funding, which was why more volunteers and trustees were required.
Without the people offering their help at Monday’s meeting the food bank had faced a real threat of having to close in the near future.
Anybody interested in taking on the unpaid co-ordinator role or who wants more information about it can contact Ms Barker on 07890 559961.
Families needing help are mostly referred to the food bank via West Somerset’s village agent Nikki Bonner, who can be reached on 07940 913698.