On April 24th, Sevenoaks residents Eliza Ecclestone and Claire Ritchie launched The Lockdown Larder initiative and CommunityAd caught up with Claire to find out more about this wonderful scheme…
Can you explain to readers what the Lockdown Larder is and what inspired you to start it?
The Lockdown Larder is a short-term project set up to help support those whose income has been drastically reduced or even stopped by the coronavirus and resultant lockdown. These people were mostly financially self-sufficient before the lockdown and will be okay again once they can get back to work and back on their feet, so would not be eligible for FoodBank or other support, but in the lockdown period were struggling to pay for food and groceries. I felt strongly that, by the time people had summoned up the courage to ask for help, they would be feeling fairly low and like they had lost control over so much in their lives, and I wanted to give them back as much of that control and dignity as I could.
So, I put together a priced-up list of approximately 150 standard items at Tesco, and we send that form to the applicant, and they can then choose their own shop to the value of £25, giving them back at least some control over what they feed their families that week. The list includes fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat, fish etc.
We then send a volunteer to Tesco to do the shop, they deliver it to the applicant and send me a copy of the receipt, and immediately reimburse them from our bank account. The applicants can apply for a shop every 7 days. We also have a large number of donated items from, amongst others, Waitrose, Lidl, and the Hygiene Bank, and we list what is available on the bottom of the form as ‘free choice’ items for people to choose 7 items from. These are then added to their Tesco shop and delivered to them, too.
My inspiration came through the ‘Care for Our Community’ initiative, set up by Eliza Ecclestone, where we were coming across people who were struggling to pay for their shopping. At first, our idea was to supply filled food boxes, but I tried to think of what I would want in those circumstances, and decided that I really wouldn’t like the idea of people dictating to me what I should feed my family, when my self-esteem had already taken a battering, and so the idea of the Lockdown Larder was born!
What has the overall feedback and support been like from the community?
The feedback from individuals and businesses in the community has been extraordinary, and we have been completely blown away by the support we have had and the hugely enthusiastic way in which everyone has mucked in and supported us. We now have a wonderful admin team of 10, and so many volunteer shoppers, all of whom have been utterly brilliant, and the feedback from all the applicants has been how kind they all are, and how they haven’t been made to feel like a failure or ashamed for asking for help. That, to me, was one of my founding principles, and one which we have reiterated constantly as we go along.
Since you have started, how many families you have helped?
To date we have shopped for just over 100 households and, as I type, we are on our 624th application.
How much have you been able to fundraise during this period?
Fundraising has been through GoFundMe (nearly £10,000 to date!), and with the help of a starter donation from Sevenoaks Town Council (£1,000), followed by other local communities and businesses, public grants and private individuals. In all, we have raised about £15,000 so far.
Have you been surprised at just how badly COVID has affected families, who, as you mention, were completely self-sufficient just three months ago?
We have been very surprised at the effect on families, not just financially per se, but also what that has done to their feelings of security and their mental health. It really has had a huge effect on people, some of whom have never had to ask for any help before, and I believe that that will take a long time to recover from for many.
Can you see a light at the end of the tunnel for these families?
There is light at the end of the tunnel for some, we are seeing some people starting to get back to work, and saying that they are now able to manage and so that they will no longer apply and leave the funds for others who still need it. I actually feel like a proud Mother Hen when they say that to us, as I am so thrilled for them. Others are not so lucky and are either still unable to work or there will now be no work for them to go back to.
We are planning to keep shopping for those who need our help until the end of August but have given everyone plenty of notice of that so that they have time to apply for Universal Credit and other help well before then. We know that lots will be still be struggling after that, but by signposting them to other agencies/projects, hopefully no-one will be left without support when we stop.