- Sculpture by the Lakes is donating fresh produce harvested from its kitchen gardens to a food share scheme that supplies food parcels to families and households in need in Dorset.
The Sculpture Park and gardens, set across 26 acres at Pallington Lakes near Dorchester, includes a large and very productive kitchen garden which usually supplies the on-site café, Café by the Lakes.
But with the Park closed from December 20 into February for major groundworks, Sculpture by the Lakes reached out to offer their home-grown salad and vegetables to Food Share, a project at Dorchester Community Church that aims to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to people in need across the local area.
Mick Denney, kitchen gardener at Sculpture by the Lakes, said:
“We put so much energy and effort into growing the best produce we can, so we knew we could never let it go to waste. Thanks to Food Share that is definitely not going to be the case!
“This is a fantastic project being run by local people and we’re really pleased to see our lovely salad and veg go to families in need. We hope it’s now being enjoyed in homes across our community!”
All the surplus produce over the six-week period is being picked, packed up, and delivered to the food project by Mick, ready to be shared with the wider community.
Up to 6kg of mixed leaves salads, including mustards, chervil, parsley, lettuce, chard, spinach, claytonia, coriander, rocket, baby kale, endive, chicory, and mint, along with carrots, is being donated each week, to be added to the 70 food parcels delivered by the project weekly to homes across the DT1 and DT2 postcode areas.
Simon Gudgeon, sculptor and owner of Sculpture by the Lakes, said:
“We have such a productive kitchen garden here. From the stream of lovely feedback from visitors, and of course our own experience, we know it’s delicious and we’d hate to see it go to waste! So, I’d like to say a big thank you to the organisers of the Food Share project at Dorchester Community Church for enabling us to share our produce through this wonderful scheme. Hopefully it will be enjoyed.”
With the church building closed due to COVID restrictions, the Food Share project is being co-ordinated from the home of volunteer Liz Meech.
Liz Meech, Food Share Administrator, Dorchester Community Church, said:
“We were delighted to receive this kind offer from Sculpture by the Lakes – made all the more welcome because it covers a time of year when donations are in short supply.
“We’ve had lovely comments about children eating some fresh fruit and vegetables they’d never tried before thanks to our food parcels, so we know the wide range of produce being donated will be appreciated by the families we supply.
“This kind donation is helping to keep families supplied and children healthy through the winter months, and we are so grateful to the team at Sculpture by the Lakes for thinking of us.”
For more information visit https://www.sculpturebythelakes.co.uk
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