Ards Peninsula u3a Allotment Group helps local foodbanks

Wesley from Ards Peninsula u3a's Allotment group shares how they have been using their produce to help the local community.

Members of the group have been harvesting their very first crops of home grown vegetables and passing the fresh produce on to local foodbanks to share with needy families and individuals.

Thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund we were able to buy the equipment we needed to get started.

With careful planning and the commitment of our members, we built our own raised beds from pallets; we cleared the ground and fed the soil and then planting began this Spring. Now we are seeing the success all our efforts. Everything we produce goes to help feed people who are less well off and there’s nothing better to lift the spirit than food that is organically grown and fresh from the soil.

So this year we have harvested potatoes, peas, broad beans, beetroot, onions, garlic and shallots and later in the season we will have crops of crops of leeks, spring onions and chard.

The local foodbanks which have received produce so far include, Bangor Foodbank and Community Support; Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church Free Food Mondays; and, the Warehouse Foodbank, Newtownards.