St Michaels and All Angels Church are adding more dates to their community food market to help families struggling with food bills.

The market has helped many families since launching in the summer holidays and is currently open three times a month.

Members of the church in Ashton-on-Ribble collect surplus food from local supermarkets through Fareshare and host the markets to offer the food to local families on a ‘take what you need, pay what you can’, basis.

Read more: Over 100 children benefit from free meals and activities in Preston

Members of St Michael’s Church who run the market will be joined in January by friends from the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, to run weekday sessions for parents.

Shortly before Christmas, Councillor Javid Iqbal, Mayor of Preston visited the team to present them with Covid Heroes Award. The award recognises those who have made a significant contribution to their community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Churchwarden Stephen Davies said: “We have been generously supported by grants and donations from church members which have enabled us to support our local schools.

“And we have a fantastic team of volunteers who do everything from collecting food from Fareshare, setting up the market stalls and helping on the day. Sadly, I can’t see the need for our service disappearing any time soon.”

Read more: Over 100 children benefit from free meals and activities in Preston

The next four dates for the market are:

Tuesday 18 January from 9.30am
Saturday 22 January from 10am
Saturday 12 February from 10am
Tuesday 15 February from 9.30am

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