Sutherland families in need of extra support as lockdown drags on, says councillor who is in charge of group which has secured 10 tons of food for county during pandemic
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Many families in Sutherland are now in need of extra support because lockdown has gone on for so long, a local councillor has revealed.
Cllr Deirdre Mackay, chairwoman of Sutherland Community Partnership Food Resilience Group, said the coronavirus shutdown, now almost into its fourth month, was taking its toll on many north residents.
She told the Northern Times: “We’re seeing an increase in the number of young families requiring support. In addition to dealing with the initial emergency, we are now beginning to consider the longer term outlook and what needs to be done.”
Cllr Mackay spoke out as Sutherland Community Partnership (SCP) took delivery of its third food drop from Aberdeen based social enterprise Community Food Initiatives North East (CFine). Among other services, CFine provides emergency food to those in need.
Cllr Mackay said that, prior to the pandemic, food poverty in Sutherland was already a priority with SCP. Since the onset of the virus however, activity had grown considerably.
The original number of food share groups across the county has increased and every area is now covered. SCP holds regular meetings by teleconference which allows the groups to share resources and ideas and deal speedily with challenges.
Cllr Mackay said that over the course of the pandemic SCP, working with Highland Council and Police Scotland, had secured over 10 tons of food.
A sophisticated delivery operation, facilitated by a number of groups working together, ensures those in need receive supplies of food.
“Highland Council provides a lorry, forklift and driver to uplift the pallets from Aberdeen and deliver these to the distribution point in Dornoch,” said Cllr Mackay. We also work closely with the community hub which provides volunteer drivers to take provisions on to Kinlochbervie and Bettyhill.
“Our local food support organisations and volunteers then bring their own vans and minibuses to uplift food for their communities and onward to distribution points the length and breadth of the county.”
She paid tribute to the hard work of volunteers and community groups, saying: “I want to thank everyone involved with our food share initiative. The level of co-operation between our communities and organisations is high and has to be commended.”
