REQUESTS for help from Dawlish Community Larder have increased due to the current cost of living crisis, town councillors were told.

Access has been made to the £2,000 set aside by the council for the Helping Dawlish organisation to top up the larder and finance the FareShare scheme.

Donations of both food and money are being made but Helping Dawlish organisers are keeping an eye on the funding situation.

Helping Dawlish is now in its third year of operation as a collaboration

Its most recent discussions have been focussed on both the cost of living crisis and support to Ukranian refugees and guests and their host families, working with other local support groups.

The town council directly runs and co-ordinates the Helping Dawlish response, with the council acting as the grant holder where needed.

There was a collection by Redeeming Our Communities at the Christmas Market for food donations, and a generous food collection by Dawlish Community College.

Over Christmas, there will be local contacts with food parcels available for those in need.

At a recent meeting of the collaboration, a membe asked the council to consider the use of funds for topping up gas and electric cards by the referring organisations, only during the Christmas and New Year period.

The referral organisations would then get reimbursement from the council after the event.

This is intended to be a ‘limited and local’ solution only during the festive period.

Helping Dawlish had a grant of £2,372.50 to support the Homes for Ukraine Programme across Teignbridge to the end of October 2022.

This has supported informal Bring and Share evenings at the Riverside Centre and other drop-in activities and was underspent.

A new grant has been signed for from the November 1 to June 31 2023 for £1,690 for several initiatives.

These include local community support for Homes for Ukraine Guests in the Dawlish and surrounding area such as providing local information, for example the Helping Dawlish Website page, opportunities to network and provide space for drop-ins for peer support.

It will also finance work with partners to the Homes for Ukraine programme to support a range of workshops delivered Teignbridge-wide to support guests and hosts.