The Hitchin Food Provision Team have been helping feed people in and around our town since lockdown - and well before that.

From their Christmas hamper appeal to helping hard-pressed families put food on the table during the Covid crisis, they have stepped up to help people in our town.

As the pandemic unfolded back in March, members of their Christmas hamper appeal turned their attention to providing food to families that may have found themselves in financial difficultly due to coronavirus.

Those who found themselves suddenly furloughed or unable to work due to significantly reduced hours or loss of employment/self-employment were now in the stressful situation of how to feed their family.

Up stepped the Hitchin Food Provision Team who came together and have been supporting those families with weekly supermarket vouchers.

This support was complimented by Feed Up Warm Up (supported by Caritas Westminster) who joined the team and have been providing food parcels and/or hot meals to families who needed a little extra help but did not qualify for the vouchers.

The team worked in conjunction with the Hitchin and Letchworth foodbank and were able to alert families to their services if required.

Hitchin Food Provision heroes

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Speaking to Hitchin Nub News, driving force Lorna Hemmings said: "We were really pleased to be in a position to continue this support throughout the school holidays.

"But now as we approach the winter months, with potential lockdowns, more job losses and where families have to consider 'heat or eat' we are gearing up our efforts to make sure we can provide as much support for as long as possible to those families who need it."

The team have helped 95 families, issuing more than £20k of supermarket e-vouchers to date with Feed Up Warm Up providing 750 food parcels and around 1300 hot meals to 40 families.

Emergency Fund Grants and funding have been awarded from Herts Community Foundation Grant, NHDC Grant, the government in partnership with The National Lottery, Hitchin Youth Trust - as well as generous personal donations from individuals in our town, in order to continue this support into the winter months.

This group of unsung heroes have a JustGiving page to help keep their support running. If you would like to donate, click here

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If you, or someone you know, could benefit from a little support in order to feed themselves or their families email [email protected].

The team is very grateful to the generous individuals who have supported this work and to the following organisations for the grants awarded: CAF, As One Community Choir, Hitchin Youth Trust, Hitchin Round Table, Zeo Church, Rotary of Hitchin Tilehouse, North Herts Councillors, NHDC, Caritas Westminster.

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The Hitchin Food Provision Team is made up of the following local organisations and charities: Hitchin Partnership CIO, Hitchin Round Table, Hitchin Youth Trust, Rotary of Hitchin Tilehouse, Hitchin Volunteer Army, Zeo Church working in collaberation with Hitchin Food Bank, Feed Up Warm Up and Caritas Westminster.

Lorna adds: The Hitchin Christmas Hamper Appeal aims to provide support to families and their children this year at Christmas as with previous years, although it may look a little different for 2020.[.B]