In response to the Coronavirus Crisis, Mansfield District Council has established a Community and Humanitarian Recovery Strategy to bring partners together to support the most disadvantaged residents.
The council will work with partners to deliver projects where they are most needed including activities around food insecurity and health inequality. The target areas include some of the most disadvantaged wards such as Bellamy and Oaktree.
So far the council has worked with Family Action and FoodShare to establish FOOD (Food On Our Doorstep) clubs which currently support 103 people. With funding from Nottinghamshire County Council, seven more FOOD clubs are set to open up across Mansfield with the third due to open imminently in Portland ward.
From Christmas time, holiday food packs will be provided to households in need along with FoodShare schemes in a number of locations to be run in partnership with tenants and residents groups and church leaders.
Working with Feeding Britain, a pilot ‘Fuel Bank’ will provide one-off support for those families who have been disconnected or at risk of being disconnected by their energy supplier so that they don’t need to make that difficult decision of fuel or food.
From November more FOOD clubs are set to open in Children’s Centres in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council.
Mayor Andy Abrahams said “As the discussion on holiday hunger continues at a national level it is important to understand that the financial envelope from the Government to Mansfield District Council does not include the provision of meals for children. The funding that we have received is to support our community response to COVID-19 and the two matters are very different.
“However, many of our projects are helping vulnerable families in Mansfield district and we shall continue to make best use of the allocated resources to help.
We’d welcome a wider discussion to ensure that collectively we can address the issue of holiday hunger and ensure that no child goes without food outside of term time”.
Mansfield District Council will launch a winter food fund to tackle food insecurity. The aim is to establish a pot of money for local groups and food banks to access to enable them to continue to deliver much needed services over the coming months.
People who need urgent help during the COVID-19 pandemic should continue to seek support from the Nottinghamshire County Community Hub by calling 0300 500 80 80 or by visiting the Nottinghamshire County Council website (opens in new window).
The hub can provide help with access to food and medicine, befriending and wellbeing.