SOMERSET Lord Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq visited Minehead on Friday to formally present the King’s Award for Voluntary Service to the West Somerset Food Cupboard (WSFC).

The award was announced in November as part of King Charles’ birthday celebrations and is the highest a local voluntary group can receive in the UK, equivalent to an MBE for an individual person.

Mr Saddiq attended the Church of St Michael the Archangel, in Alcombe, for the presentation accompanied by Deputy Lieutenants Rear Admiral Ian Moncrieff and Chris Davies.

Food cupboard volunteers and trustees were present for the prestigious occasion and trustees chairman Katrina Midgley said: “What an honour this is.

“The award recognises the commitment and hard work of the incredible team of over 50 volunteers we have at the West Somerset Food Cupboard.

“Their dedication enables us to operate in our local community, ensuring that nobody in West Somerset needs to go hungry.

“In the past year alone, we have distributed a total of 5,560 bags of food.”

Mr Saddiq met some of the food cupboard volunteers and told them: “Due to the cost- of-living crisis, there is a direct need.

“You are leagues ahead of many organisations in the UK.

“We will try to replicate the experience you have gained across other parts of Somerset.”

Somerset Cllr Mandy Chilcott also attended and said: “I was excited to attend the presentation and meet the volunteers from across West Somerset.

“They work tirelessly alongside local agencies, charities, and businesses to make sure food gets to people in need and to ensure no surplus food goes to waste.”

The award recognises outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities.

It was created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and, following his accession, King Charles emphasised his desire to continue the award.

WSFC has been providing emergency food from St Michael’s Church since 2007, and last year saw an eight per cent increase in the number of emergency food parcels it distributed.

West Somerset is ranked in the worst 20 per cent for food affordability across England.

Food is donated by local people, checked, and packed by volunteers, and distributed either by a local agency supporting somebody through a particular challenge, or directly by a member of the team.

In May, 2022, a Local Pantry was formed through a partnership agreement with supermarket surplus charity Fareshare South West and the former Somerset West and Taunton Council’s Local Pantries initiative.

It offers affordable access to fresh, chilled, frozen, and surplus food which would otherwise perish and pantry team volunteers sort deliveries and stock and distribute to members every Tuesday for £3.50 per family.

Last year, the Local Pantry distributed 4,000 bags of surplus food.

Anybody who wants to make a one-off or regular financial donation to the West Somerset Food Cupboard can visit its website here for information on how to do so.