New rural food hub to support people in need

An event was held by Melton Borough Council at Goadby Marwood Village Hall to thank those involved with the hub network for their hard work

A new rural food hub has launched in a Leicestershire village to help people struggling with the cost of living.

The new venture in Asfordby is the ninth hub set up by Melton Borough Council as part of its Rural Food Hub Network.

The hub will be open every Wednesday between 13:00 GMT and 14:00 at Bradgate Flats and is available to all residents in need of financial support.

The Rural Food Hub Network was launched in February and has since received more than 76 requests for food and support from rural households across the borough, the council said.

A council spokesperson said: "Our hubs are located in areas where we have seen a demand for support for households, and we are really grateful to our teams and volunteers who have created and continue to support the hubs, leading to us expanding our offer in terms of the services that can be offered and the geographical reach of our network of hubs across our rural borough."

Residents can get access to the hubs by contacting the council's community support hub and requesting a voucher.

The spokesperson added: "In the first instance, the hubs were similar to food banks, enabling residents experiencing financial hardship in our rural areas to access food parcels, provided by Leicester South Food Bank, in times of need.

"For residents in our rural areas, being able to access a town centre-based foodbank is not always possible, and we wanted to reduce the risk of inequity in being able to support households in need."

The council says the hubs have developed since their initial launch and aim to provide a tailored support approach as well as providing food parcels.