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Food Bank Benefits From Bumper Crop

Green-fingered volunteers from a community gardening scheme are handing over the fruits of their labour to a local food bank.

Fresh produce grown by volunteers from Borough of Poole's COAST project is being donated to the Poole Food Bank scheme.

The COAST (Community Outreach and Support Team) project offers people with learning difficulties the chance to take part in gardening and grow an array of fresh produce, including fruit, vegetables and herbs.

The gardening group, launched in April, is based at the Poole Adult Learning's Oakdale Centre and also uses an allotment near the Fleetsbridge roundabout.

Members of the project are donating this year's bumper crop to the Poole Food Bank.

Poole Food Bank provides parcels of fresh and tinned food to help people in their time of need. It also offers an advisory service to people to find solutions to help them deal with their situation in the long-term.

Diana Everett, of Borough of Poole's Community Outreach and Support Team, said: "The gardening group is proving a real success and all the volunteers have worked extremely hard to grow an amazing crop of fresh fruit and vegetables. It is very satisfying to be able to grow your own fresh produce, but its gives us as much pleasure to donate the fruits of the volunteers' labours to the Poole Food Bank as it is such a worthy cause."

The COAST gardening project hopes to continue with the aim of growing more organic produce. However, the project is looking for a new home following a series of thefts and vandalism of its poly-tunnels at the Oakdale site.

Diana said: "The thefts and vandalism are frustrating but we hope to find a new site for the project to ensure its good work continues."

Organisations or groups that may be able to offer available land for the gardening project can contact Russell Giles, Borough of Poole's Community Outreach Manager, on 01202 672628. Alternatively, please contact the COAST team at Dorset House on 01202 668513.

Ian Turner, Media Relations Officer
Tel: 01202 633295