With a challenging autumn and winter ahead, and donations taking a dip during the summer holidays, Weymouth Rotary have made two major donations this August, using monies raised from the Fayre In The Square event in May.

The first was a cheque for £1,000 to Weymouth Foodbank. Chair Of Trustees JP Dervley said “our food donations have not been keeping pace with the increased demand for our services.   Donations such as yours allow us to buy food to top up our supplies to meet the demand. In particular it allows us to buy fresh fruit and vegetable to supplement the cans and packets we provide.

“In the six months to June 2022, we saw demand across the 3 locations we operate from increase by more than 50% in comparison with the same period in the previous year. We helped 511 families, 382 couples and 1084 singles in this period. This equates to more than 35,000 meals. With food and energy prices continuing to increase, we expect that the need from our community for Foodbanks will continue to grow”.

Weymouth Rotary were also able to make a donation to The Nest community shop, an enterprise created to help those on low incomes receive good, nutritious food at low prices. “This is the most recent donation that the club been able to make to the shop”, Rotary President, David Langridge said.

“There’s no question these are challenging times for us all – but those with low incomes are suffering the most. Thanks to the generosity of the people of Weymouth and the efforts of our members organising fundraising events, we are proud to make a difference in partnership with charities and community organisations in the area”.