A growing Norfolk food network which has been a lifeline to 15,000 people during the cost of living crisis expects to help another 10,000 in the coming months.
Nourishing Norfolk was founded to provide affordable food for those who need it, lifting people out of poverty while strengthening communities.
It is led by the Norfolk Community Foundation, which hosted an event at St James Mill, in Whitefriars in Norwich, so partners, volunteers and supporters could celebrate the rapid acceleration of the project in the last seven months.
Last May, it had developed five community food hubs, including the pilot at the Burrell Shop in Thetford, which opened in 2020.
Now, it supports a network of 15 independent hubs in towns and villages across the county, helping an estimated 15,000 people to shop on a budget at around half the cost of regular supermarkets.
But Claire Cullens, chief executive of the Norfolk Community Foundation, said "we are only just beginning" - with plans to expand the network to 25 food hubs by June, when it expects to be supporting 20,000-25,000 people.
With demand growing and many families still struggling to afford the soaring cost of basic meals, she said the project also needs to continue to drive down the cost of food, find more food suppliers, and refine its distribution links.
"When it started with a pilot in Thetford just over two years ago, we wondered if it was possible to bring people together - farmers, food producers, volunteers - and find a way of producing and creating a food opportunity for people that were really struggling," she said.
"Very quickly we realised that, absolutely, it was possible and, more importantly, it was scalable and it gave us an opportunity to support communities across Norfolk.
"Every one of those food hubs is individual - created and owned by the community they sit in. We are so proud to have worked with the people that established them.
"We have also developed local and national food partnerships, set up a food warehouse and developed a distribution pilot that takes food from farm to hub to plate.
"We started with food, but the opportunity of Noursihing Norfolk is so much greater than food. We have learned, through our food hubs, we can really help take people on a journey away from poverty."
She also paid tribute to key partners including Feeding Britain, community volunteers and managers, business and council supporters, the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, Norse Group, and the Norfolk Community Foundation and its trustees.
Also speaking at the event were David Hill, the High Sheriff of Norfolk, and Simon Bailey, Norfolk Community Foundation's chairman of trustees, who praised the "inspirational leadership" of its chief executive - and agreed the work was far from finished.
"We have still got a long, long way to go," he said.
"We have got to carry on driving down the price of food, we have got to get our logistics right, and we have got to get the wrap-round services in the places where we all want them. If we can achieve that, then we will have created something unbelievably special.
"To be able to say, with real sincerity, that this is not happening in any other part of the country, and we have got other countries looking at what is taking place in Norfolk, is something we should all be unbelievably proud of."
Victoria Lewis, whose family are tenant farmers on the Sandringham estate, is supply and logistics manager for Nourishing Norfolk. She urged farmers and food suppliers to get involved with the project.
"We want to build an alliance between the farming community and the Nourishing Norfolk project," she said.
"If you have food surplus because you have met your quota, get in touch, because we can put you in touch with local hubs or perhaps we can take a bulk delivery at one of those locations.
"This is an opportunity to make an enormous difference, to reach a local market and organisations that want to be able to promote local and seasonal produce. You also have the opportunity to reduce food miles and food waste."
For more information about Nourishing Norfolk, see www.norfolkfoundation.com.
'OVERWHELMING' DEMAND AT NORWICH HUB
One of the hubs in the Nourishing Norfolk network has seen "overwhelming" demand in recent months, with more than 100 people a day seeking affordable food.
The Feed social supermarket on Hall Road in Norwich, which launched in July, is open to anyone in the NR1, NR2 and NR4 area, with no means-testing criteria applied around income or benefits.
Programme development manager Andrea Auburn said initial research estimated 300 members would sign up in the first year, but added: "Then the cost of living crisis hit, and within our first month we had 800 members.
"Now we are seven months in and we have 1,900 households signed up to use our shop, that's about 4,500 people.
"We are seeing 100 people every day. It is a very high demand and sometimes it is quite overwhelming.
"People are coming in who are working full-time in jobs like healthcare or nursing, who are needing our service because they have nothing in the cupboard.
"We are seeing people shop with us on budgets of £5 per week for groceries, and that is just not feasible. Parents are foregoing their meals so their children can eat, which is not acceptable.
"This cost of living crisis has changed the way poverty looks, and that is why we didn't want to put any criteria in place that would stop people using it who were just on the verge of needing support. It is a service for everyone.
"People are telling us it is a lifeline, and they would not survive if they could not come to our shop, so I cannot over-stress how important it is. It also gives them a sense of community that they never had before."
This added value is embodied in assistant manager Mally Berry, 40, who was originally a customer before becoming a volunteer and then an employee.
"It has helped me in so many ways," he said.
"I was going through a divorce and was then homeless. It helped provide food for myself on a really low budget, and then employment which made me feel better about myself and my depression.
"The most rewarding thing now is to help people in a similar situation. I can show them that it can work, it can get better. It is great to be able to play a part in it."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here