Foodbank launches fully electric mobile pantry

The Quantock Foodbank said their new all-electric vehicle will help them reach the local community and outlying areas

A food bank is launching a fully electric van to help deliver food to local communities.

The Quantock Foodbank in Somerset, said it would help them reach more people in need who cannot travel.

The £80,000 vehicle has zero-emissions and has solar panels to power its fridge and lights.

Marlene Mason, the Managing Trustee of the food bank, said: "The wonderful people of this area raised the funds for it."

The Quantock Foodbank, which is a combined foodbank and pantry operating on a referral basis, provides food essentials for families in need.

By using the new van, the charity is hoping to reach more people over a wider area.

"People being able to reach us is a problem because there are no bus services where we live and if you've lost a job or your car's broken down, you've got no access to anything like education, employment opportunities, health," said Ms Mason.

"Shopping which doesn't cost a fortune is an issue as well. Good though village stores are, you can't do a full week's shop out of them."

The mobile pantry cost £80,000 and was paid for via public donations, sponsorship and grants

People are encouraged to access the service through professional referrals such as health visitors, Citizen's Advice and job centres.

Ms Mason said: "Trying to afford food is a symptom of a wider problem.

"They often need a lot more help, so we work closely together with these agencies to make sure it's more holistic," she added.

As well as reaching communities, being environmentally friendly is also important to the organisation.

"There are various pantries all over the country who've gone mobile and they use converted vehicles like converted library vans, police vehicles and so on," Ms Mason said.

"But being Quantock and not wanting to cause any more environmental pollution in an area of outstanding natural beauty, we decided that it wasn't worth putting a dirty diesel on the road."

'It's quite exciting'

With a fully-electric van, there are no worries about it running out of power.

"It's fully electric so we have a charging point but it has quite a range. We've tried it out and it doesn't use very much [power].

"Our first run out with it [to reach the community] will be Stogursey as that's the furthest away from us," Ms Mason said.

Ahead of the launch, staff have been trained up to drive the vehicle and they are "excited" to take it out on the road.

"We all are. It's quite exciting after all this time!"