Councillors make donation to food bank after expressing ‘discomfort’ over allowance increase

Liberal Democrat councillors have joined forces to contribute hundreds of pounds to help a town’s food bank.Rob Colwell representing Gaywood South, David Sayers representing Gaywood North & Central, and John Crofts representing Freebridge Lynn decided to donate £500 to Lynn’s Foodbank.The monetary contribution was accompanied by additional food items in line with the top 10 needed products which are listed on the ‘Bank the Food’ app.

The donation is said to have been made by the councillors to help support residents during the cost of living crisis as well as feelings of discomfort of having a pay increase to their councillor’s allowance given by Norfolk County Council.The councillors voted against the increase.Cllr Colwell said: “After the vote was lost, we decided immediately that we couldn’t accept it and felt that we wanted to give back the funds to local residents in need. I hope it helps the most vulnerable in our local area.”Cllr Sayers has encouraged members of the public to download the Bank the Food app and highlighted its importance.He said: “It is free and easy to use and is regularly updated, so you can easily tell what is needed when in the supermarket.”Cllr Crofts added: “While it isn’t a huge amount, we hope that it might help families, for example over Easter, that might have relied previously upon free school meals holiday vouchers before they were cut by the council.”Helen Gilbert, the Strategic Project Manager of King’s Lynn Foodbank, expressed her gratitude for the donation.She said: “”We’re very thankful for the generous donation from the councillors which will help us to support many individuals and families who are struggling right now.“During 2023 the Foodbank provided food parcels for 6,637 people – an 11% increase on the year before and a sign that the cost-of-living crisis is continuing to impact people in our area.“This financial donation will buy the equivalent of over 700 tins of soup and will help to keep us going for a while.”