A Story from High Valleyfield
Topic outline
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High Valleyfield Community Council started a fresh fruit and vegetable home delivery in response to the UK’s lockdown to Coronavirus.
High Valleyfield is an old coal mining village with a high population of elderly residents. The Community Council wanted to help people in the village that were forced to stay at home due to the pandemic.
The Treasurer of the Community Council had a neighbour who received a care package which was full of tinned, packet and dried produce. Nothing was fresh. He came up with the idea that the Community Council could supply fresh fruit and vegetable to those in need during this difficult time. A local wholesaler was approached and asked if he could help by supplying the fruit and vegetables. The Community Council applied for some grants and received awards from The Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Foundation Scotland and Tesco.
The idea was to maybe help 20 or 30 local residents but by week 10 of lockdown, they were delivering to over 130 households and serving 60+ more at our local centre.
Villages close by got word of what they were doing and joined up with High Valleyfield to help their local communities too. The project is now helping over 400+ households in the West Fife area.
A huge benefit to the people receiving help is also the contact they get. Many of these vulnerable people are living on their own with very little contact with the outside world.
One lady said she was extremely happy someone else cared enough to make sure she was alright and now looks forward to the weekly visit.
This is a free service, everyone is volunteering (Fife Council community centre staff, library staff, community support workers and local residents). The service relies on donations from the village and the help of a couple of grants.