The Somerset Food Resilience Taskforce has now distributed more than one million items of food since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

This meant the Community Council for Somerset’s Village Agents (CCS) have been able to create veg boxes, carers respite meal packs, and Christmas meal packs for a huge number of people.

The Food Resilience Taskforce is funded by Somerset County Council and supplied by a wide range of generous organisations including Fareshare, HiS Church, local supermarkets, Branston Potatoes, Charlie Bigham’s, and many more.

The CCS Village Agents are the beating heart behind the Food Resilience Taskforce and have a warehouse where they manage food deliveries, gather donated food items, and co-ordinate community groups to collect and distribute food and other essential items to people across Somerset.

Each week around 15 to 20 different community groups from across Somerset meet at the warehouse to collect the food for distribution. Between them they will collect and deliver between 10,000 and 30,000 food items each week, along with 100 to 600 frozen meals.

A spokesperson for the CCS Village Agents said: “It is a phenomenal effort, and we would like to express our deepest thanks to the amazing people who run food groups voluntarily to make sure people in their communities are looked after.

“We would also like to thank Somerset County Council, Public Health, and FareShare for enabling the movement. Thank you to all involved in making this happen.”

Anyone interested in volunteering with the CCS Village Agents, or anyone needing help with food, can call 01823 331222 or visit: https://somersetagents.org/help-with-food/ Anyone in Somerset who needs support with access to food or medicines, or emotional and financial support, can call the Somerset Coronavirus Helpline on 0300 790 6275, seven days a week, 8am to 6pm, or visit the CCS Village Agents website https://somersetagents.org.