A scheme that has supported 45 Maldon families with fresh food hampers from the start of March is now continuing through April and will be tailed off gradually in May and June.

The 'Meat & 2 Veg' was initially rolled out for the month of March after an Essex County Council grant was secured by Maldon Town Council.

The aim was to provide identified families with fresh food that was nutritional and sometimes beyond their budgets. To meet this aim, and with the ongoing support of Carl Wakefield at Plume Academy and Julie Taylor at The Café at St Peters, town councillors initially identified 30 of the most vulnerable families and residents in the town.

The original plan was to distribute fresh meat and vegetables, including eggs and bread, over the long five-week month of March.

Councillor Carlie Mayes, who has been one of those spearheading the scheme, said: "We also wanted the families to play an active part in the project and look at this as a "food shopping" expedition just the same as they would normally do to their normal supermarket. This involved us finding a partner to act as distributor and all the hamper components to be available from one location."

The families and individuals who have been supported come from all walks of life. Some have found themselves with no income stream despite being comfortably off, while others are coping with children that have complex needs and low incomes.

The project grew to support the now 45 families through April, but new one-off funding from the Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC) means it will now continue through to May, tailing off gradually into June so that support is not suddenly withdrawn.

Maldon town councillor and district councillor, Carlie Mayes, who has been a driving force behind the project, said: "There is a small team of volunteers who deliver our 'Meat & 2Veg' packages on a Wednesday morning. These volunteers are either councillors or volunteers who have been working with Maldon CVS (Community Volunteer Service) during the pandemic.

"The key thing we have in mind is not to judge. We deliver with a smile - this is really important as no-one knows how someone is coping with life at any given time.

"All hampers come with recipe cards that families have found really useful.

"To feed good quality meat, fruit and vegetables to 45 families has cost £675 a week! Our hampers have also contained half a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread from a local bakery.

"On Mother's Day we supplied every mother (or father) with a bunch of daffodils and at Easter we gave each family a pack of hot cross buns and an Easter Egg. This was courtesy of Maldon CVS and Tesco. It brought smiles all round, including our eldest recipient, a 90-year-old lady who lives in the town alone."

As an added surprise last week, Tesco donated a punnet of strawberries to every hamper recipient.

Going forward, Maldon Town Council is working with Maldon District Council and a number of other partners, including existing food bank providers, to ensure food support is available to all those in the town who need it.

Partners who have been directly involved in the project:

-EALC funding through enabler Louise Gambardella

-Plume Academy - Carl Wakefield and his assistant Jo Frost

Next Chapter – Zara Travers

The Golden Platter - supplying bread

Tesco – supplying meat, eggs and one-off surprises

Lidl - daffodils