A BRIDPORT food bank has a new storage room, courtesy of a motorsports team.

Cupboard Love, based in St Mary's Church on South Street, has been struggling to store all of the food which had been donated by members of the public.

The food bank reached out to ask the Bridport Youth and Community Centre for support, and with the help of the Bridport Bandits, a youth motorsport project based at the centre, a new, larger, storage room was created.

The Bridport Bandits gave up one of its garages, used to house racing vehicles, and it was turned into a clean, safe area to store the food donations.

Charlie Bodycomb, a regular volunteer at Cupboard Love, said: “Since the pandemic began, dealing with stock has become a challenge. We are managing many more tins, boxes of cereal, pasta and all the other things we are given.

"Supermarkets, local businesses, and individuals stepped up their donations because the problem became so much more severe during lockdown. And the economic impact led to more people needing help and support to feed their families”

Kelvin Clayton, chairman of the Bridport Youth and Community Centre, added: “The centre was more than pleased to support the food bank and delighted that the Bridport Bandits were able to offer to help by kindly giving up one of their garages."

The youth centre offers activities to young people on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Swifts Junior Youth Club for eight to 11-year-olds, is open to all, every Wednesday from 5.30pm until 7pm and on Fridays from 5pm until 6.30pm. The Xtreme Senior Youth Club for 11 to 18-year-olds, is open to all every Friday from 7.00pm until 9.00pm.

Cupboard Love is open every Wednesday from 11pm to 1am.

Carrie Gamble, manager of Cupboard Love, said: "If anyone needs support and hasn’t come yet, please call into the church as we want to help everyone in need. We also help people with housing and other support.

"There has been amazing support by members of the community offering to volunteer, and businesses offering all sorts of help, and we are so grateful for all the donations, both food and financial.”