The Westbury Area Network (WAN) has welcomed the High Sheriff of Wiltshire, Martin Nye, during a visit to recognise and thank volunteers for their work tackling food insecurity in the town.
The charity provides emergency food parcels to local people and operates two community fridges.
Martin Nye’s role as High Sheriff sees him represent King Charles across the county. His visit to WAN came as part of his specific community initiative, with ‘food’ chosen as his theme for 2025.
“I’ve heard great things about what the team at WAN are doing here and thought I would come and say thank you,” he said. “I picked ‘food’ as my [community initiative] theme for 2025. I have a long list of groups I want to see across the county, and WAN is one of them.”
As the High Sheriff made his way through the WAN building, located at the Westbury Community Project off Eden Vale Road, he met with volunteers and trustees from the charity.
Founder and trustee Ian Cooper told the High Sheriff about how WAN grew out of the pandemic in 2020. To begin with, food parcels were picked up from the Warminster Foodbank and dropped off from across Westbury to support local people. But as time went on, it became clear that demand was high enough for a dedicated food support service in Westbury.
Ian said, “Over the four years since we’ve been registered, the number of food parcels we have handed out has gone up 60%, so you can see there is a need out there.”
Sheila Kimmins, trustee at WAN, added “We treat people with kindness, but also respect. It takes a lot of courage for some people to come through that door.”
The group also discussed with the High Sheriff the topic of social deprivation in Wiltshire and additional issues which impact people in rural areas, such as the villages around Westbury.
Volunteers also raised additional issues they have seen, such as a rise in homelessness which leads to a change in which foods can be provided.
The High Sheriff also discussed his work with ‘Bags for Taste’, a project which brings more cooking support to towns in Wiltshire, such as Westbury.
Reflecting on the visit, Ian added, “I think the visit from the High Sheriff is great. It makes us feel people have noticed what we’re doing here in Westbury on a county level.”
A town council spokesperson added, “Westbury Area Network (WAN) has managed the two community fridges in Westbury as well as the Abraham’s Kitchen project, on behalf of the town council for several years.
“Through their growing links with the local community, WAN has supported the town council to achieve its objectives to help to reduce food waste by expanding use of community fridges which are open to all and help to prevent good quality surplus food going into landfill.”
If you would like to support WAN in any capacity or utilise its services, visit westburyareanetwork.org
Pictured: Michael Amos, Lorrae Allford, Jean Darling, Niomi Harvey, Jean Hallowell, Norman Winter, Jason Webster, Martin Nye and Ian Cooper.
