The Newbattle Food Initiative
The Parish of Newbattle (which covers Newtongrange, Newbattle and Mayfield and Easthouses) is currently planning for the redevelopment of the church building in Newtongrange this year. The building will close after the election on the 6th May. As part of the transition work alongside the redevelopment, the Storehouse Foodbank closed it’s doors at the end of April and it’s supplies have been moved to Mayfield and Easthouses church . It is the end of an era as the Storehouse has worked in the NG church building under the leadership of Sandra Marshall for 10 years. We want to thank Sandra and all the volunteers from Newtongrange who have shopped and packed and delivered food to families over the years and in particular in this last year during the pandemic.
The work of the foodbank and the support we have always offered to the families referred to us from Newtongrange and Mayfield via Children and Families department, has moved to a new location with a new name and shape.
The Newbattle Food Initiative is the reconfigured version of the foodbank as we begin to emerge from lockdown and take into account all the changes the pandemic has brought, especially to people experiencing food insecurity.
What hasn’t changed:
Newbattle Parish, as a church and congregation covering the 3 communities of Newtongrange, Newbattle and Mayfield and Easthouses will still be running a food support programme: collecting, shopping, packing and supporting families with emergency food parcels in the same way the Storehouse foodbank always did.
All the food, shelves and supplies from Storehouse have been moved to the church at Mayfield and Easthouses.
The same referral catchment area of Newtongrange and Mayfield and Easthouses will be served.
The same items of food will be required and provided for the parcels.
The Co-op in Newtongrange have kindly agreed to continue to have a donations basket where local people, as they have always generously done, can give ambient food (tins and jars and packets) to the Newbattle Food Initiative.
What has changed:
The food will be stored, sorted and collected from Mayfield and Easthouses church while the redevelopment of Newtongrange Church is being carried out over the next 2 years. There will be more community news on the redevelopment at the end of May through the Community Council.
We are now operating as a satellite station of the Midlothian Foodbank (Trussell Trust) at Gorebridge so that we have the back up support of a larger organisation. Referrals should be made here and they will then be remitted to NFI.
We will be working more in partnership with Newtongrange Development Trust’s “The Pool” Saturday sessions and also with Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust’s new initiative “The Pantry” where food will be made available in different ways in these communities.
The food will be packed and distributed on a Thursday at Mayfield and Easthouses church and we are looking for new volunteers to help with this. If you are interested or have any questions about the NFI then please email the Minister, Gayle on gtaylor@churchofscotland.org.uk or call the church office on 0131 663 3245.