Tackling Hunger in Tisbury

Tackling Hunger in Tisbury

By Mary Myers, TisTalk

It may be hard to believe that people are going hungry in our area, but some families struggle to feed themselves, even in our idyllic village of Tisbury.  Zita Wickenden runs the food and spoke to us on TisTalk in early June.  “There are adults skipping meals so their children are fed”, she says. 

Zita, Tisbury’s youth worker, who runs the food larder voluntarily, blames the current cost of living crisis.  “It’s ordinary families with children who use the larder” she says, “it’s also the elderly, and the whole spectrum.  Even people you’d not expect are struggling.  It’s hard-working families and people who can’t necessarily get benefits because they’re on the threshold and not getting extra support from the state.”

Started in 2022, the larder was a spin-off from Zita’s youth group which meets nearby. She says: “Originally the idea came about to prevent food waste, but it’s also a fantastic way to help people. You can either swap items for items, donate items or just take items.  ”

The larder is open 24 hours a day and is never locked.  Usually stocked with tins of food, eggs, UHT milk, some fresh vegetables and fruit, it also includes toilet paper, baby formula and toiletries.  Recently, local people have been donating clothes and children’s books.

Zita says “I know certain people would make sure their children would be fed but not themselves.  It’s about a choice between eating properly or paying the electricity or rent”.  It’s also about helping with more healthy diets.  Zita points out that often fresh fruit and vegetables are more expensive than ready meals, crisps or chocolate in supermarkets, “so our food bank can help with more healthy options.”

“Families in need can just come up here for a little extra help.  That’s why this food bank is so amazing.  A lot of other ones are means tested but this one isn’t and that’s how I’d like it to stay.”

In early spring this year, a grant from Wiltshire Council of £2,500 enabled Zita to buy food on top of the regular voluntary donations given by shoppers at the Coop.  “That grant made a huge difference to about thirty families in Tisbury.  The food was flying of the shelf.”  Another £2,000 has just been granted for the food larder by the Arundell Trust and food stocks are already being bought, with the help of the Parish Council Clerk.

Other regular helpers include the staff at the Coop supermarket and local well-wishers.  Zita wants to thank all those who donate food, other goods, time and energy to the food bank: “I just want to say thank you to everyone in Tisbury, because without them the food bank wouldn’t carry on.  They’re great”.

Non-perishable food and toiletries can be donated at the Coop on Tisbury High Street, in the ‘Tisberries’ food bank basket.  Zita can be contacted through Facebook Tisbury Local Youth Network and may be able to arrange collection of bulky goods, clothing and books.   

Tisbury’s Community Food Larder (photo: Zita Wickenden)