The Stockton Food Power Network Community Electric Van was officially launched by Catalyst this week in collaboration with Stockton Borough Council, with its main aim to act as a vital resource to help support local VCSE organisations to help tackle food insecurity in Stockton-on-Tees.
Catalyst has recently recruited four fantastic volunteers, led by our Volunteer Co-ordinator Helen Burns, they have undergone a training programme which included a practical induction of the electric van with the fantastic fleet team at Stockton Borough Council. The SFPN Community Electric Van officially hits the road today helping a local charity, so look out for it, and if your organisation can benefit from the van, please email SFPN@catalyststockton.org for further enquiries.
The SFPN Community Electric van will also support our existing community shops/ecoshops in Stockton-on-Tees with plans to continue to develop new Community Pantries to directly tackle the growing need to access food affordably, and locally in their communities. The Community Pantries work with Fareshare which is the main re-distributor of surplus food, and in conjunction with the SFPN Community Van Stockton Borough Council have offered members one year’s free Fareshare membership to current community provisions and new community pantries, to ensure Stockton-on-Tees is able to provide much-needed support in our communities. We are also working with SFPN members on a variety of areas such as Maximising Income Projects in schools and community areas, increasing take-up free school meals and Healthy Start Vouchers, as well as plans to support and develop Grown Your Own Projects.
We will publish the information from our recent SFPN Meeting in November on the Catalyst Website, on the SFPN page, and if you would like to become a member or like more information on how you can become involved, please do not hesitate to get in touch.