A group that was feeding 1,500 Salfordians a week during lockdown is calling for the community to help them find a new home.
For the Love of Food Salford is a volunteer lead project that fed thousands of residents during lockdown with the help of volunteers and staff from the kitchens of the Buile Hill Banqueting Suite and Worsley Old Hall.
As the centres reopen there will no longer be any space for the chefs, volunteers and delivery drivers to provide their vital service to the city.
The team are looking for help from residents through donations, food storage, catering equipment, delivery vans or any spaces that are free to rent.
Walkden North Councillor Sammie Bellamy founder of the initiative said: “We’ve not been thrown out by any means, these places are opening up again and will go back to hosting small weddings and stuff like that.
“We’re looking for a new home, somewhere we can work while we provide for our residents.
“People can donate to the Gofundme, or if people have kitchens that have closed down or aren’t going to open, then we’re happy to take their equipment off their hands.
“We have 10 delivery rounds, three times a week and they’re going around Salford, so if there companies who can donate a van or freezer we’d love that. We can put their logo on the vans and advertise the business.”
The group began when Councillor Bellamy started cooking meals for friends, family and nursing homes at the beginning of lockdown.
After realising that many people could not cook for themselves and were struggling, she started helping a friend at the Veterans’ Food Company ny cooking and preparng meals for vets in Salford.
The mother of four then set up the For The Love Of Food project and got together a hardworking team that cooked and delivered meals three times a week across the city which saw them handing out 1,500 meals a week.
They have had support companies such as Morrisons, Tesco, Lidl, Quality Save, Batleys and Bookers, with ingredients donated to them by FareShare.
Their hard work saw them recognised by the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester "for outstanding activity and contribution to the community" and "for the altruistic acts of thoughtfulness and kindness during the C-19 Pandemic."
The group plan to continue the scheme and are in the process of turning the project into a social enterprise or charity, they are hoping to find a home and obtain more equipment to help the elderly who are still shielding and children who will be without free school meals as the summer holidays begin.
You can donate to the group from through their Gofundme here, or get in touch via their Facebook page.
