Feeding Merthyr Tydfil

 You may be aware that for more than 2 years now, VAMT has brought a core group of third sector organisations together to look at issues regarding access to affordable food across the County Borough.  These local  issues were very clearly spotlighted during the pandemic,  the incredible  response of third sector organisations and volunteers and the levels of need they found in our communities.

 We were recently approached by  an amazing organisation called “Feeding Britain” https://feedingbritain.org

 Feeding Britain currently works across 28 areas from Cornwall to north Scotland and partnerships come together to address issues and underlying causes of  hardship.  Among the initiatives supported by Feeding Britain across the UK are Affordable Food Networks saving households more than £2.5 million a year on their shopping, Healthy Holidays supporting 40,000 children and families during school holidays, Pathways From Poverty helping to increase people’s incomes and address the underlying causes of hardship, and Fuel Banks providing two weeks’ breathing space for people on the brink of destitution.

To this end I’d like to invite you to a meeting (via Zoom) with Andrew Forsey,  Director of Feeding Britain, to talk about establishing a similar network in Merthyr  Tydfil – Feeding Merthyr  Tydfil, which would be the first of its partnerships in Wales.  This will take place on Tuesday 18 May at 3:00pm.  Hopefully there will be the opportunity to   discuss the coverage of existing provision, share the challenges facing families and individuals, and begin developing plans to ensure nobody has to go hungry or without basic essentials during the recovery from the pandemic.

 If you’d like to attend, please email VAMT  by Friday 14 May and I’ll send you a link.