Voucher-free food drops organised for families in Cradley

Cradley Community and Welfare Association has set up its own free service to help local people after being told by one charity it couldn’t take donations because it had too much stock.

Councillor Tim Crompton said that the association, along with volunteers from Cradley St Peter’s and Providence Methodist Church, had now set a voucher-free service to provide weekly food bags to local children and families throughout the summer.

He said: "We started out collecting food donations after one of our local charities had to stop because of social distancing rules during the lockdown.

"But when we contacted another food bank to donate what we collected we told they weren’t taking donations because they didn’t have any available space to store it and that was because people aren’t getting the vouchers.

"We know that free meals vouchers are being provided to some families but a lot are missing out.

"The problem is that many people either don’t know how to apply or are just on the cusp of qualifying because they’ve only recently been made redundant or lost their job.

"I will now be urging Dudley Council to ensure everyone that is entitled to vouchers know how to claim them."

From July 21 the centre, on Colley Lane, Halesowen, will be open from 12 noon to 2pm to families that need help. The food is being paid for from the sale of hand-made face masks.

Councillor Crumpton added: "Any child in the Cradley area and their family can come along and they will receive a free grab bag lunch and, if they need it, a bag of food for the family.

"We have no idea how many will come so are asking that people go to our Facebook site – Cradley Community and Welfare Association – and register. Anyone with food allergies will be able to register this with us."

The association has also used money from the sale of masks to donate £100 each to local primary schools for mementos to Year 6 children who are moving to secondary eduction in September.