BME Suffolk Support Group launch new foodbank in Bury St Edmunds
A support group has launched a new foodbank in Bury St Edmunds with the aim of giving 'food that is nutritious to families'.
The BME Suffolk Support Group foodbank, which is open Monday and Friday from 10am to 12.30pm, is based at Linden House, in King’s Road, Bury.
The non-profit organisation already runs a community hub in Ipswich and also a foodbank in Mildenhall as well as drop-in sessions at Bury’s Jobcentre Plus.
Project leader Funmi Akinriboya said: “It’s open to the whole community, not just the black community.
"What we’re trying to do make sure we give a food that is nutritious to families. We're not just giving canned food, we've giving fresh produce along with the canned food.
"We've got bread, herbs, cucumber, fresh potatoes, carrots, bananas and oranges as well as cereals, rice, pasta and all the dried stuff.
"We have a bigger project in Ipswich so if we have referrals from the ethnic community we can transfer traditional food to Bury for those from diverse communities."
The team are also looking for more volunteers to help run the vital services the group offers.
"If we have more volunteers we'll be able to run everything like we're able to in Ipswich.
"And we give a lot back to our volunteers. We make sure we train them and support them in building their profile. We pay for them to do Level Two Food Hygiene. We will pay for their DBS. All the training they need for the different projects we run we will pay for it."
For more information about the group, visit www.bmesuffolk.org.uk.