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Volunteers serve up fun and food during school holidays

Volunteers at Jersey Park Pavilion have had a busy summer serving thousands of meals to families using the park during the school holidays.

Jersey Park Pavilion Food 2024

Jersey Park Pavilion Food 2024

Up until yesterday (Thursday) they had been open every weekday lunchtime ensuring children and young people have a warm home cooked meal if they want one.

The pavilion was one of 48 community groups and charities across the city to successfully apply for and share almost £150,000 in food grants as part of the council's support for families while children are off school.

Volunteer Sarah O'Connor says the scheme has been a big boost to families, especially as the park has also hosted lots of free activities during the last five weeks to keep children active and entertained.

"Parents know that this is somewhere safe and welcoming for children and that they are being fed at the same time," she explained.

"Families have said that it's helped them to be able to save for other small treats like a visit to the fair or the beach.

"We've been doing this for quite a few years now and we used to raise money through the year, but the extra help from the council means we know we've got a budget to serve home cooked food every day.

"It's been really busy, especially on nice days, and if there's been activities on as well we've been serving over 100 meals a day.

"It's lovely to see the children out enjoying and we know them all and their families and they've had a great time."

Another organisation to secure funding was Swansea Community Farm.

It said: "The  Summer Food Fund provided by the Swansea Council has been an invaluable. It has significantly benefited both our play scheme attendees and the dedicated volunteers at our community pantry. With this support, we've been able to ensure that children and families have access to nutritious meals during the summer months, alleviating food insecurity and creating a real sense of community."

Swansea Council's Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Alyson Anthony, said: "We have wonderful community groups in Swansea who do some amazing work and I'd like to thank them for all that they do.

"Voluntary groups and the third sector can make the money go that much further, reaching more families than the council can.

"I'm very proud that in Swansea we are supporting families this summer as the school holidays can be expensive for families who are hard pressed already because of the cost of living crisis.

"We have invested almost £150,000 in helping thousands of families access free food during the holidays, there have been hundreds of free and subsidised activities at locations across Swansea and of course every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday there has been free bus journeys which continue up to and including this Monday's bank holiday."

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Last modified on 23 August 2024