Local schools, a charity and a logistics company have teamed up for an ingenious project that is tackling both food poverty and food waste in Barry.

Every Saturday, the Cadfield Food Van travels to six locations across the town to provide food for families in need.

Those struggling to make ends meet pay £4 to fill a 'Cadfield shopping bag' with food items supplied by the charity FareShare.

Though it started just a few weeks ago, the initiative has already had an immeasurable impact on the wellbeing of families across Barry.

One mother told Nub News that without it, she probably would have starved to death.

How it started

The scheme is in many ways a continuation of the widely praised Big Bocs Bwyd (BBB) Initiative, started in 2017 by local head teacher and OBE Janet Hayward.

"If you have a hungry child then they can't really do much in the way of learning," Ms Hayward said.

After realising the extent of child hunger in Barry, she liaised with FareShare to establish a "pay what you feel" food shop in Cadoxton Primary School.

FareShare is a national network of charitable food redistributors, made up of 18 independent organisations.

It takes surplus food from across the food industry and delivers it to almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups.

In April 2020, the school raised funds to purchase a shipping container from which the shop operated. Another was established at the nearby Oak Field Primary School soon afterwards.

The scheme helped countless families during the pandemic.

Inspired by BBB's success, Managing Director of the Barry-based road freight company United Worldwide Logistics (UWL) Mike Mitchell got in touch with the schools. He wanted to suggest ways in which his company could support the mission to end food poverty in Barry.

They came up with the Cadfield Food Van, essentially a mobile version of BBB. UWL provided the vehicle free of charge and a member of their team collects food from FareShare every week.

Volunteers from both schools and UWL then oversee the collection of items.

Nicole Cox-Schembri and Hannah Cogbill are teachers at Oak Field and Cadoxton Primary schools respectively. Both were instrumental in organising the initiative and volunteers every week to help run it.

"With the Box Bwyd initiative, we were really addressing food waste and zero hunger in the community," Nicole explains.

"It has been great for that community, but we wanted to take it further than that so neighbours and friends and families can get involved which is why actually getting out into other communities around Barry is so important."

Starting at 9am on Treharne Road, the van visits six locations across Barry including Main Street, Coldbrook Road, Skomer Road, St Brides Way and Oakfield Primary.

Parents at the school are asked to make the £4 payment via ParentPay, but all members of the community are encouraged to use the van. Those who do not have a child who attends either school can pay on arrival.

What impact is it having?

Nub News caught up with the van last weekend at its Skomer Road stop. Many smiling parents, children and volunteers were present.

"It's been such a help, a total godsend. It's got me through bad times," a mother named Nicola told us, referring to both BBB and the Cadfield Van.

"With lockdown, I came out of work and was waiting on benefits and this really did put food on the table to feed the kids.

"Without it, I probably wouldn't be here today. I probably would have starved to death. It brings tears to my eye. It really is just amazing."

Another mother called Ruby explained why the Cadfield Van is even more helpful than BBB.

"It's perfect because I live just up the road and my son has additional needs. It is so accessible and convenient.

"It even has things like gluten free, which is extortionate in the shops and I have an allergy baby. To know that I can come down here and get it for £4 is amazing.

"The weeks where we're financially struggling, it helps make ends meet."

According to Oak Field teacher Nicole, the beauty in the scheme lies in the fact that it is not charity in the conventional sense.

"At the end of the day, this is to tackle food waste," she told Nub News. If people don't take it, the food will go to waste. We need them to take it. It just makes sense. There's absolutely no shame.

"Everyone could do with a bit of help. We don't want anyone to go hungry. We just want people to be healthy and happy."