Food charity gets £25k from Comic Relief for van

The Comic Relief grant has paid for a specialist dual temperature van to help distribute food across the UK

A Lincolnshire charity which distributes surplus food across the UK has been given a £25,000 Comic Relief grant to continue its work.

His Church, based at the former RAF Binbrook site on the Lincolnshire Wolds, will use the money for a specialist dual temperature van.

The charity collects food from major manufacturers and supermarkets before distributing it it to 3,000 organisations such as foodbanks and homeless shelters.

In 2023, His Church redistributed an average of 526 pallets every month which equates to 18,475 meals a day.

Natalie Pickering, who will drive the van, said it will make a "big difference" to the charity's work

Operations director, Richard Humphrey, said they are they are "enormously grateful" for the grant from Comic Relief and will "fill a real gap in our fleet".

The new vehicle will carry three to four pallets at a time.

Driver Natalie Pickering said the vehicle will "make a big difference".

"We can reach more people in more areas and... [reach] some of the more remote journeys where you just wouldn’t be able to get a lorry," she added.

Comic Relief will be screened at 19:00 GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].