The housebuilder’s East Midlands division, which is building new homes at its Gateford Quarter development in Worksop, has delivered the blocks to the foodbank’s headquarters in Community Way, off Shrewsbury Road in Manton.
Volunteers at the group tend 24 allotment plots next to the headquarters as part of the organisation’s Grow It, Fix It project. This is an allotment, orchard, and white goods repair scheme with fresh produce going to the food bank.
The breeze blocks will be used to create five compost beds to allow the group to recycle more green waste and reduce the amount of money spent on buying compost.
Bassetlaw Food Bank, which offers support to people who have been referred to the organisation by local agencies, was set up in 2012 and has seen an increase in demand for emergency food parcels. In 2023 they provided 2,061 parcels, which supported around 3,909 people, and equated to 82,809 meals supplied to Bassetlaw residents dealing with food insecurity.
Laura Kennedy, Supporter Engagement Manager at Bassetlaw Food Bank, said: “We are always looking for help from local businesses and really appreciate the partnership we have established with Bellway. It was great for them not only to agree to supply the breeze blocks but also to deliver them to our main site, where the allotments are based.
“Now that we have these blocks our team will be able to set about using them to build five new compost beds. We use the allotments to grow a variety of fresh produce, such as cabbages, potatoes, beetroot, tomatoes and cucumbers, which we incorporate into our food parcels.
“The new beds will help reduce our expenditure on compost, allow us to recycle more green waste from the allotments and help tidy up the whole site.”
Last year, sales team members from Bellway East Midlands volunteered to help the team at the food bank, who collect, sort, pack and deliver the items as well as working on schemes to ensure people have enough to eat.
Heidi Higgins, Sales Manager at Bellway East Midlands, said: “I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer to help out at the Bassetlaw Food Bank last year and it gave me a valuable personal insight into the fabulous work that the team at the organisation do, day after day.
“We are proud of the relationship we have built up with the people there and it’s good to be able to make a real difference to help them reach a certain goal with a particular project. We asked if they needed anything, and they told us that they would love to be able to build five new compost beds at the allotment site, so we offered to deliver 250 breeze blocks.
“It is great to hear that the blocks will help in their growing operation on the allotment plots which will help them provide people in need with fresh produce. It is well-documented that a vital element of a balanced diet is fresh fruit and vegetables and the Grow It, Fix It project is helping to address that.”
Bellway is building 110 new homes at Gateford Quarter. To find out more, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/east-midlands/gateford-quarter or call 01909 238173.