Food Larder Van set to hit the road
East Ayrshire Council has launched a Food Larder Van initiative to offer essential support to vulnerable communities across East Ayrshire.
Throughout the pandemic and Cost of Living crisis, the Council faced challenges when trying to ensure that vulnerable residents could access essential food and household items, and it supported the launch of the community Larders. As part of the Council’s ongoing support in tackling Poverty and Inequalities, the Food Larder Van was sourced to cover some additional areas and the Council took delivery of the vehicle earlier this year.
Now that the van is ready and raring to go, it will operate on a fortnightly rota starting from Monday 21 October. The schedule aims to highlight areas where there is a need for the van whilst coming under the requirements of Street Traders.
Week 1:
Tuesday: Sorn 10am - 11.30am
Cumnock 1pm - 2.30pm
Wednesday: Bellsbank 10am – 11.30am
Drongan 1pm – 2.30pm
Thursday: Galston 10am – 11.30 am
Week 2:
Tuesday: Sorn 10am – 11.30am
Galston 1pm – 2.30pm
Wednesday: Onthank 10.30am – 12pm
Bellfield 1pm – 2.30pm
Thursday: Bellsbank 10am – 11.30am
Drongan 1pm – 2.30pm
The van will offer several key benefits including access to essential cost-price items in more remote areas like Sorn where there is no local shop and limited public transport or where there is identified need. It also aims to promote healthy living and encourage improved nutrition by providing access to fresh produce and healthy food options. This will augment the work being done by the existing Larder network.
To ensure long-term sustainability of the initiative, a number of strategies have been put in place. These include community involvement; partnership working with established local businesses and food producers to secure consistent supplies; seeking external funding; and adopting a social enterprise model to reinvest any surplus from items to ensure that the Food Larder Van is cost neutral.
The van was officially launched at Council HQ in Kilmarnock last week and suppliers who are contributing to the initiative were invited along to a Community Food Event as a thank you for their support. They also got the chance to meet representatives from community larders and community groups across East Ayrshire.
Councillor Jim McMahon, Cabinet Spokesperson for Housing, Transport and Communities, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to introduce this initiative to our communities across East Ayrshire for residents who are in need of lower cost food and household items, or those who don’t have easy access to a local shop to buy these goods.
“This vital resource will help to address these issues and we will keep gathering data as well as feedback from anyone using the van so that we can ensure it continually meets the evolving needs of our communities.”
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