Uist and Barra food bank to focus on fresh produce

Locally grown foods will be made available by the new project

A new community food bank will open in Uist and Barra in the Western Isles later this month, with a focus on fresh produce.

Local groups have come together to set up the new facility, saying there is demand in the islands.

They point to recent job losses and high prices for heating and fuel in creating a need for a food bank.

Local minister, the Reverend Calum Smith, said the facility would be available to everyone.

He said: "Food banks often carry a stigma - that they are for a particular type of people or it's seen maybe as a city thing - the homeless who come in to use a food bank.

"But the reality is today that with things being tight financially and changes to the benefits system, there is a need within a much wider demographic of people. So it's open for anyone to use."

Murdina Naylor, from volunteer organisation Tagsa Uibhist which is supporting the project, said: "We will be contributing by having raised beds available for the food bank.

"We will be growing what we perceive will be needed. Normal things like onions, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes - and hopefully that will bring fresh produce to the food bank, along with the tins and everything else that comes normally.

"It's very important, especially where it's young families so that the children get the nutrients that they require for growing."