Community group continues to fight food poverty

Karen Knight makes warm and nutritious meals from her own kitchen

A community group has vowed to continue tackling food poverty after cooking 8,000 free meals for vulnerable people.

Wiltshire's Positive Community Action (PCA) was set up to address deprivation and social isolation across the Marlborough and Pewsey area.

Karen Knight, coordinator of the group's community meals scheme, said the milestone reflected the hard work of volunteers who had made a "real impact" across the wider community.

She said: "I think it's a really nice thing to do. It reminds me that kindness, like a good meal, is meant to be shared."

Mrs Knight added: "To think we've actually cooked 8,000 meals is absolutely just beyond my imagination."

PCA's community meals programme is sustained through public donations which fund the purchase of core ingredients.

It is also supplemented by surplus food rescued from local shops which can be used within dishes.

Siobhan Boyle, director at PCA said: "Every penny and every donation we receive goes straight back into making sure our most vulnerable neighbours are fed and connected."

Volunteers Hannah Naylor, Catherine Peel, Hazel Harvey, Karen Knight and Simon Peel

Ms Boyle said: "Hitting the 8,000-meal mark is an unbelievable collective triumph, entirely powered by our local community."

As well as the community meals scheme, the PCA delivered food to families experiencing financial hardship.

It also runs a friendship café and a food share initiative within the Marlborough and Pewsey area.

Ms Knight said the human interaction was just as important as the food: "People love getting their meal, but they also love the chat on the doorstep.

"They might not see anyone from week to week, so that Friday when they get a meal delivered…I think it really brightens their day."