Care home residents join with local schoolchildren to help local food bank

At a time when so many families are feeling “immense financial pressure”, residents from a care home in Brockenhurst have joined forces with local schoolchildren to help produce hampers for the local food bank.

Lyndhurst Food Bank volunteers Lisa Knight, Joanne Rolle and Fiona Green (foreground) receive the Woodpeckers hampers from home manager Priya Joseph, home gardener Chris Marsh and Companionship Team Leader Jane Bunker. Credit: Colten Care.

The food bank currently supports 65 households, making in the region of 30 deliveries a month to local people who need a little extra help, receive free school meals or have reduced income due to redundancy or loss of hours.

Colten Care’s Woodpeckers welcomed pupils from Brockenhurst C of E Primary School to help with packing of boxes for the food bank as well as having an important discussion about food banks and “why they are needed.”

Woodpeckers companionship team leader Jane Bunker said: “We all wanted to help the Food Bank in some way and my colleague on the companionship team Jo Anderson suggested we involve local children too.

“It was a wonderful day with the schoolchildren. They came in with their teachers and we had set up a number of ‘stalls’ manned by our residents, where they first talked about the wildlife in our garden.

“Our residents, their families and staff had also collected a large selection of food which the children selected to form hampers. They discussed food banks and the children packed the food into boxes which the residents had also wrapped in bright paper.”

Woodpeckers resident Frank Coumbe talking to the children from Brockenhurst C of E Primary. Credit: Colten Care.

Representatives from Lyndhurst Food Bank later visited Woodpeckers to collect the hampers.

Woodpeckers resident Jean Slater said: “It was great to be involved in this community initiative and lovely to work with the children.

“As well as being a lovely opportunity for our residents and the children to spend time together, chat and laugh, the event also gave the children a better understanding of what a food bank is and its importance in the local community, at a time when so many families are feeling immense financial pressure.”

Lyndhurst Food Bank is supported by Lyndhurst Welfare Charity, local businesses and the people of Lyndhurst, Bank and Emery Down.

Food Bank volunteer Lisa Knight said: "The children of Brockenhurst C of E primary school had carefully selected lots of food items, and thoughtfully packed them into hampers, which the Woodpeckers residents had beautifully wrapped.

“A big thank you for thinking of us and our assurance to you is that all these will be shared around the village."

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