Walsall church bread service hit by lack of supply

The Mend-It Project at Green Lane Baptist Church usually distributes bread as part of services it provides to alleviate isolation.

The bread would be collected from the Sainsbury's supermarket at Reedswood Way, which provided the church with its unsold bread.

However, minister for the church Rev Sarah Bingham said she was told by a member of staff that the shop had been instructed to no longer distribute unsold bread when she went to collect the bread.

She said: "Unfortunately, when I went to collect the bread this morning, someone at the door said 'I'm afraid we're not allowed to give it to anyone as we've had instructions overnight'.

"I'm sad because we had found a way where we could carry on giving out the bread and stay well within the Government guidelines for how to operate safely.

"I also don't think having one extra person in the shop to pick up the bread and bring it straight out would have put an additional strain on the people in the shop.

"On the other hand, I can understand it because they are working to shift production to sorting out stock and not doing overproduction because that is wasteful.

"I can see their point of view, but I am disappointed because obviously we know we've got people who are sort of quite dependent on getting that provision of bread."

Rev Sarah said she had noticed the supply of unsold bread was reducing after only being able to pick up a few packets of rolls the week before.

She also said she would be looking at plans going forward to see if the project could continue to progress with distribution of food.

She said: "We haven't got a contingency plan because, through the Mend-It Project, we've had the partnership with Sainsbury's for a long time

"What I will be doing once I've sorted out all of the information is working with voluntary groups within Walsall who organise a thing called the Big Feed.

"They are looking at provision for the elderly and the vulnerable, and those who are self isolating to look at providing food parcels if necessary."

Sainsbury's have been contacted for a comment.