DOing their bit to fight hunger and tackle food waste, Launceston Community Market have supported Love Your Neighbour with a financial donation.

Love Your Neighbour is a network of churches working in local communities across the UK alongside people of all faiths (and none) to support individuals and families in need. The Launceston Hub, headed by Val Carpenter and her husband Michael, is situated in the Methodist Central Church (in Dingley Hall).

Love Your Neighbour works with organisations across the town, to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are met through local neighbourly activity, connections and support.  This approach is community-led and dependent on willing volunteers.

One of the major aims is to prevent food from being wasted and ensure it is distributed to people in need.  

Food is supplied by supermarkets and volunteers collecting unneeded crops from fields as well as Fare Share. 

More than three-million tonnes of good food goes to waste in the UK food industry every year, meanwhile millions are facing food insecurity and hunger.  

Fare Share strengthens communities by taking good food and getting it to local charities, like Love Your Neighbour Launceston, who use it to support people in their communities and ensure thousands of nutritional meals reach people in need including many who may be missing out on free school meals during the holidays. 

Of the people receiving this help, studies show that the vast majority benefit from more balanced, healthy diets, feeling less isolated and having a positive impact on physical and mental health.

As well as the very necessary help outlined above, Love Your Neighbour Launceston also provide a respite for people to have tea, coffee and cake in a friendly atmosphere with other people who may be struggling with the same problems as themselves – whether it be loneliness, depression or any other crisis.

The Community Market in Launceston, which is open at the Methodist Central every Friday morning, is delighted to help this very worthy charity with a donation of £200 and their spokesman, Paul said: “This is exactly what we want to do — all our fund raising goes to local charities to help our community and this one is undoubtedly extremely helpful in Launceston. 

“If anybody has suggestions for the next good cause, please let us know.”