Free bags of food all handed out in minutes at Bainsford hall

The give-away at Bainsford Community Hall on Saturday was advertised as taking place between noon and 3pm – but by 11.45am a queue had already formed at the door.

As promised, it was first come, first served for the pre-packed bags of groceries that included fresh vegetables.

On the day, some extras including children’s books and toys, along with nappies and other baby goods – donated by Falkirk Foodbank – were also available but it was all gone very quickly.

Bainsford Hall Community Group ran the event in partnership with Langlees Food Initiative, Corra, and Falkirk Baptist Church, using funding left over from various projects and donations from local charities. The partners previously did a similar give-away in December 2020 when 34 parcels were handed out.

While they had expected the demand to be higher they were taken aback at just how great the need is now.

Joanne Fox, secretary of Bainsford Hall Community Group, said: “Everything went – it was phenomenal but it was quite sobering actually. Everyone who came was so lovely, and so grateful, it was really nice to be able to help people out but I just wish we could have helped out more.”

The response left the Bainsford Hall group in no doubt about the impact the soaring cost of food and rocketing energy bills is having on many people.

“There were certainly people there who never expected to be there, and we were saying we had never expected we’d have to do this,” said Joanne. “It’s just how things are at the moment for lots of people – you either heat your house or you eat.”

The households that they had to turn away have been referred on for further support.

“It is really clear there is a need in the community,” said Joanne. “It’s something that we will be thinking about going into 2023, about how we can maybe do something else to give additional support.”

“This was just a one-off Christmas initiative but we’ve certainly been very surprised by the response that we’ve had and everyone has been so lovely that we’ll definitely be looking at it again in the future. We do feel that we’ve made a difference and that’s 50 households in Bainsford and Langlees that won’t be going without this Christmas so it was worthwhile.”

Joanne said there were plenty of willing helpers on the day and in the run-up to the event, including local councillor Iain Sinclair, and thanked everyone who helped collect, pack and sort the food.

“Everybody was great and gave a lot of time to it. Everyone pitched in, which was fantastic.”