AN EMERGENCY food provision service has been helping feed the people of Fa’side during the coronavirus pandemic.

The service is being run by Fundamental Foods, an initiative run by The Pennypit Community Development Trust, alongside East Lothian Foodbank, FareShare, Homestart East Lothian, HeavySound CIC and the local community resilience teams.

Its aim is to tackle food insecurity in the Fa’side area, which covers towns and villages including Tranent, Macmerry, Ormiston and Pencaitland.

Fundamental Foods has been running for three years and supports food and nutrition projects, such as Fa’side Lunchclub and Fa’side Fridge, in the local area.

The emergency food provision service, alongside financial support given to each community council, was funded by Fa’side Area Partnership in an effort to ensure no-one in the community was unable to access emergency food.

Bill Axon, chair of Fa’side Area Partnership, said: “Tackling the impacts of poverty and inequality are our partnership’s main aims.

“Our partnership predicted early that this was going to be an issue in our area because of the updates and reports we receive from many sources, including Fundamental Foods. 

“As a result, our members thought it imperative that we support this much needed provision.

“At present, our emergency food provision being delivered from both St Martin’s Church Hall and the Blair Halls in Tranent is key to ensuring that we have the ability to support those who, through no fault of their own, are unable to access food or, through changes in their circumstances, cannot afford it.”

The emergency food provision is being co-ordinated by Ruth Davie, from Fundamental Foods, who said the service is feeding more than 100 households a day, six days a week.

Ruth said: “As we all tackle Covid-19, Fundamental Foods are leading on an emergency food provision to those in need in the Fa’side area.

“Vulnerable families, individuals and the elderly receive emergency food parcels every day, which are delivered right on their doorstep.

“We could not tackle such an emergency without the ongoing support of our local partners, the community resilience teams set up by the local community councils, the wonderful volunteers we have either cooking or delivering the meals and the amazing community who have been providing us with donations and in kind support.

“We are providing hundreds of deliveries each day to those most vulnerable.

“Thousands of meals, food packages and toiletries are given out every week to those in isolation, on low income and facing financial difficulties, elderly and high-risk individuals.”

Donations to the service have been made by local people and groups, including Tranent Colts, who gave them several packs of bottled water.

On May 22, the service was visited by Bill Scott, chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland.

He said: “I’m so pleased to have been able to see the Fundamental Foods food security project in action. 

“The collaborative work being carried out by local workers, volunteers and local authority staff was inspiring.

“Their work and the community spirit so clearly in evidence is exemplary and a model that others would find rewarding to adopt.”