Council distributing weekly food parcels

Food parcels will include items such as tinned food, dried food and soap as well as fresh fruit and bread.

Food parcels include items such as tinned food, dried food and soap as well as fresh fruit and bread.

Lord Mayor of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell said the food parcels are “a vital part” of their Covid response.

She said: “Our council has been allocated over 1,000 food parcels per week.

“Each parcel has been designed to provide food for one person for one week. In coordinating and distributing the parcels to our local Foodbanks we aim to support the community effort to reach the most vulnerable across the ABC area.

“Our six existing local food bank schemes in Armagh, Brownlow, Portadown, Lurgan, Banbridge and Dromore will provide onward delivery of the food parcels to the two key groups; those who have been issued with shielding letters by their GP and those who are not shielding but in critical need of food.

“One of our main priorities as a council is to protect our residents and particularly those families who need that additional support at this time. The provision of these food parcels will help those people who are unable to leave the house to shop and those who are struggling to access food.

“Each foodbank has been assigned a council officer who is in daily contact with them to support their efforts and I would like to commend our Community Development team and our staff on the frontline who are working hard to manage this scheme alongside local volunteers.

“As a council we will continue to support the most vulnerable in our community and our Community Engagement Hub is continuing to provide information and advice to residents and local Covid response volunteers.”

Support information is available at www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk/community-engagement

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