RISHTON AND GREAT HARWOOD FOOD BANK

A letter has been sent out to community group leaders from the Rishton Methodist minister, Rev Pat Brown, regarding a proposed new food bank which will cover Rishton and Great Harwood:

Dear Friends,

For those who don’t know me, my name is Pat Brown. I am the minister serving Methodist Churches in Great Harwood, Rishton and Clayton-le-Moors. With others, I recently visited the Food Bank in Blackburn operated by the Trussel Trust. I was encouraged by the professional and caring way that the Blackburn Food Bank was run and was interested to learn that their clients included people from our own communities of Rishton, Clayton & Great Harwood.

The need to provide emergency food for individuals and families increases every day. Whatever you think about Government policies as we struggle to sort out the nation’s finances, it is clear and reported regularly in our media, that the poorest families are finding it increasingly hard to survive. New Food Banks are opening every day, and churches, mosques and non religious groups are working together in their communities, to provide a Food Bank service to those who have this need.

The advice we have been given is that there would be a demand for a Food Bank serving our three communities and that one way of achieving this would be to become a satellite food bank in partnership with the Trussel Trust.

I am writing this letter to church, mosque, and community leaders and members of community organisations in our three towns to invite you to a public meeting to be held at Trinity, King Street Great Harwood, on Wednesday 29th January at 7pm.

I will chair the meeting and Ros Duerden, the Director of the Blackburn Food Bank will tell us more about local needs and the ways we might work together to set up our own local Food Bank. She will answer our questions and provide ongoing help and advice.

I am hopeful that following this, a working group will be set up to carry the Food Bank Project forward.       Although I have written this invitation, and am happy to be a member of the working group, it will be for the group itself to decide how it operates and who should be its chair, secretary etc.    This is intended to be a group which is representative of all our communities and if we all work together we have the best chance of making the Food Bank happen.

Please will you let me know if you are able to join us and also pass this information on to the members of your own organisation with the invitation to join us. If you require further information my telephone number is 01204 596807 and my email is brownpatbrown@virginmedia.com