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THE organisers of a community foodbank have warned of the increased challenges they are facing as a result of the third lockdown.

The Griffithstown Coronavirus Support Group, operating at Panteg House, was established during the first lockdown in March 2020.

The group offers a Foodshare service, which, uniquely for food banks, carries out deliveries in the areas of Griffithstown, Sebastopol, and New Inn.

Allan Peploe, secretary of Panteg House committee, painted a mixed picture of operations.

Faced with a new lockdown, he spoke of the increased level of support required for children.

"This has had a major impact on children," he said. "We provide extra food to supplement what they get from free school meal packages. We’ve also established activity packs to go out with the food parcels to give them something to do."

However, running Panteg House doesn’t come without expense.

Mr Peploe said: "Hosting and being the base of the Foodshare itself, obviously we have overheads in energy and heating, and opening costs. We’ve been successful in funding from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action which has helped us establish the Foodshare at its current level of effectiveness, but we are constantly looking for funds."

The Foodshare is facing enormous growth in the numbers of users to whom it provides services.

In March 2020, association with the Schools Federation saw it supporting 15 vulnerable families, which has risen to 70 in current circumstances.

Volunteer Laura Bartley, from Griffithstown, said that whilst numbers of users have increased, there has also been a change in who is using the Foodshare.

"There’s probably fewer elderly people and more people of working age, people with young families," she said.

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Liz Coughlin, from Griffithstown, said that there has been greater use of the Foodshare from more affluent areas of the community, not necessarily areas that would have been expected to need support.

The lockdown has also affected how the Foodshare operates. Volunteers within the Foodshare are limited to a maximum of three, and a one-way system is in the process of being introduced.

The wellbeing of the volunteers and the families is paramount, and every donation is date checked and wiped with antibacterial spray before being added to stock.

When talking about the best part of volunteering, Ms Coughlin said: "You feel you’re doing something worthwhile for people. You never know when it might be you that needs the help. It could be any of us really, and the important thing is that there’s no shame in having anything from the Foodshare."

The successes, according to Ms Coughlin, are the commitment of the volunteers and the results of their efforts.

"Getting feedback, certainly around the Christmas hampers, really shows the difference you’re making," she said. "When you get a letter, you realise it is making a difference and giving people their dignity back."

Despite this, running the Foodshare is not without its challenges.

Ms Coughlin said: "Space is a big issue. We’ve had to limit the donations we can take. I also definitely feel frustrated that all this is reliant on volunteers, it seems absolutely crazy to me that this is all reliant on people’s goodwill rather than statutory help."

The community support has been phenomenal for this local endeavour, and one of the key differences in this lockdown is the established ‘Tin on a Wall’ donation scheme in New Inn. The community’s support for this scheme means supplies no longer have to be bought in as they were initially.

Restrictions might have changed, but the Foodshare carries on.

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