Winter Community Support Programme

The Food Justice Partnership is coordinating a programme of community meals and pop- up food clubs to offer support over Christmas and New year

Over the festive season everyone should have access to food and the chance to share a warm meal with others in their community. However, it’s also a chance for the amazing people who run food support services and community meals throughout the year to take a well-deserved break.

Some organisations do operate over the holiday period, such as Stanley’s who served a Christmas Day meal to over 100 people last year and Melbourne Food Club who handed out food provided by the Sultan Experience for homeless families in hotels and people living on the streets. However, there are fewer options for people looking for support with food between Christmas and New Year’s day. Last year, many of our food clubs reported a sharp rise in families struggling to access food, particularly around Christmas Day.

In response to this, Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership (LDFJP) is taking a collaborative approach to develop a Winter Community Support Programme. This coordinated effort will offer extra food clubs, community meals, and access to warm spaces –- especially crucial during the winter period when financial pressures and social isolation peak. Between Christmas and New Year there will be two free community meals hosted in community centres in Morecambe and Lancaster. The day before each community meal there will be a pop- up food club at the venue which is open to anyone struggling to access food. Where possible, any surplus food remaining after the food club will be used in the community meal the following day.

In addition The Babar Elephant and The Sultan Experience are both providing 100 meals to Stanley’s. These will be in takeaway tubs for people to take home.

The the Food Justice Partnership is looking for people to volunteer to help with the pop-up food clubs and community meals. If you think you’d be able to help with this please get in touch via this form.

They are also developing a list of warm spaces and community meals available across Lancaster District throughout the winter period. If your community centre, religious centre, or community group is planning a meal during this time and you’d be willing to open it up to the wider community please get in touch via form mentioned above.

The hope is that in years to come there is a full programme of events throughout December and January offering people the chance to connect with others, share food and keep warm in the dark winter months.