Nairn family run food bank from kitchen
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A FAMILY who wanted to give something back to the community for rallying round in support of a terminally ill teenager has launched a food bank from their own kitchen.
Nairn mother-of-six Clair Townsend and her partner Ian MacIntosh have set up the home-delivery ‘emergency food-on-wheels’ service called Nairn Cares after scores of people in the town showered 14-year-old close family friend Megan Stone with gifts and goodwill messages in her final days before she died of cancer in October.
The couple, whose efforts are backed by tragic Megan’s brother Chris Stone, said they were happy to be repaying the town’s kindness by founding the makeshift food bank scheme in her memory.
Ms Townsend, of Duncan Drive, Nairn, said: “When Megan died we sat down and said we would like to do something for the town that helped to make her last Christmas so special, and that’s where Nairn Cares came from.
“The things people did for Megan and her family were amazing. We just had to do something in return.”
The couple started the food bank when they started to notice how many close friends were slipping below the breadline due mainly to changes with welfare benefit payments paid to help working families manage their household budgets.
Ms Townsend said: “When we started getting enquiries for food it was a real shock to find out how many families in Nairn that are struggling while working in full-time jobs. Obviously, the benefits agencies are not thinking about the affect it’s having on families when they’re being left without money for days or weeks.
“Going to a proper food bank would mean they’d have to get referred by the Citizens Advice Bureau and they’d have to show they have nothing. The difference with Nairn Cares is we will help the working family as quick as we will help the family that’s on benefits and struggling.
“All we ask is that when they get back on their feet they return the favour to us and give us a food parcel for someone else who’s in need.”
The little enterprise works by appealing for food donations via its Nairn Cares Facebook page.
The food is either delivered or picked up from donators and is then handed out to those in need. The emergency hampers are given to up to 10 needy Nairn families every week and the couple regularly dip into their own pockets to put fresh, bread, milk and fruit into the food parcels.
The small group has been so inundated with donations that their garage looks more like a corner shop with shelves stacked high filled with packets of pasta, rice and cereal and tins and cooking sauces.
Ms Townsend, who moved to Nairn several years ago from South Yorkshire, said she knows first-hand how it feels to be desperate for help.
She said: “I have actually had to use food banks in the past. There have been times when we’ve been hit by a huge bill and found ourselves struggling so I know how that feels.”
The makeshift food bank has been up and running for about six weeks, during which time 63 families living in the Nairn area have received food parcels.
Referrals have come from a wide range of individuals, including care workers who are helping elderly and vulnerable people and staff in a women’s refuge.
Food donations have been supplied by Mr MacIntosh’s former colleagues at Norbord wood processing plant near Nairn. Some of the guys from Crews 4 and 2 clubbed their Christmas bonuses together to fill nine large boxes with groceries.
Slimming World in Nairn handed over bags stuffed full of unwanted and unopened Christmas goodies rounded-up from its members in a recent amnesty.
The owner of Nairn’s ice cream parlour The Inside Scoop supplied a monthly food box and the owners of the town’s Albert Inn are also regular contributors.
The food bank also has several volunteers including Chris.
The 20-year-old student is embarking on an archaeology degree at the University of the Highlands and Islands.
He said his backing stemmed from the huge amount of support shown to himself and his family when his little sister Megan became ill and died of cancer.
There was a huge community whip-round backed by MFR’s Cash for Kids when his friends and family put out a plea for Christmas gifts for the terminally ill 15-year-old who died in October.
And firefighters at the Nairn depot did a community car wash to help towards funeral costs.
Chris said: “When the community gives to you it seems only right to give back to the community. I jut want to say thanks.”
