Money from the Councillor Initiative Fund has provided much-needed financial aid to the ‘Food in School Holidays’ project in Dunholme. 

West Lindsey District Council Chairman, Cllr Steve England, alongside fellow ward councillor Cllr Caralyne Grimble, have allocated £1,200 in total from their funding pot to support the project.

‘Food in School Holidays’ provides food vouchers to families with children who receive free school meals. The lack of a free daily school meals in the holidays can be an extra burden for families experiencing financial stress, often stretching tight budgets to breaking point. 

The Dunholme project was started by Rev. Paul Ievins, after hearing about other churches in Lincoln running a similar scheme. He formed a team who worked with local schools and supermarkets to ensure parents receive dated vouchers at the end of term which could then be spent on food and supplies outside of term time. 

Cllr Steve England has also chosen ‘Food in School Holidays’ to be his charity for the year, as part of his role as Council Chairman. He said:

“This project is a wonderful example of the Dunholme community supporting those in need.  The Dunholme FiSH team has worked tirelessly to make this project a success and I hope my support is able to help them continue to support those who need it most.” 

Rev. Paul Ievins was delighted to have part of the funding for the scheme in 2020, thanks to the Initiative fund. He commented:

“Rural poverty can often fly under the radar, but unfortunately there are people in our communities who struggle to provide for their families. 

“Myself and everyone involved in this project are incredibly grateful to both Cllr England and Cllr Grimble for providing these funds. The running costs are in the thousands of pounds, but with this money we’re feeling secure about our ability to run the project in 2020, and able to start realising our ambition of expanding to neighbouring communities.”

Anyone interested in getting involved to support the project, particularly those who would like to support plans to expand the project to the Welton community, can get in contact with Rev. Ievins at [email protected].

The Councillor Initiative Fund allows District Councillors to make awards of funding to support a wide range of community projects and activities. As locally elected Councillors, the fund allows them to get involved with local work and provide funding to help make things happen.

Each District Councillor has £4,000 over a 4 year period to award to local community projects and activities.