Residents and staff at a West Dorset care home have donated all the food they gathered for their traditional harvest festival service to local families in need.
Food bank representatives have praised the ‘lovely act of kindness’ by Colten Care’s Castle View in Poundbury.
The move is the latest in a series of activities in aid of the Dorchester Foodbank and Food Share, based at Dorchester Community Church, which Castle View residents earlier chose as their main charities to help this year.
Liz Meech of Food Share, who was a guest at the harvest service, said the donation – including pumpkins, apples, loaves of bread, bread rolls, turnips, swedes and carrots – was put to use straight away.
Liz said: “We made move than 20 deliveries in Poundbury, in a mile-and-a-half radius of the home, within 24 hours. We also made further deliveries the day after in Dorchester town.
“All credit to everyone at Castle View for this lovely act of kindness. Their generosity helped cut down how much fresh, ambient food we needed to buy and include in emergency parcels for the families who rely on us.”
Liz, who attended the service with her son Jon, a fellow Food Share volunteer, added: “I want to say a big thank-you, for both the donation of the food and for inviting us to the harvest celebration. We were made so welcome, the food on display was so colourful and lovely, and the service itself was just beautiful.
“It’s so inspiring to see the Castle View residents helping people who live so close to where they are.
“And it’s timely – with winter approaching, there is added financial pressure on families to pay for heating as well, so we expect demand for our food bank services to go up.”
Castle View’s Companionship Team Leader Hayley Legg said: “We’ve all been working hard to raise money for the foodbanks through raffles, selling handmade cards and offering second-hand books. Residents have been both creative and generous, using the Poundbury Open Gardens weekend and our summer fete as occasions on which to fundraise. As it approached, we saw the harvest festival as a prime opportunity to give direct, practical support too.”
