OsNosh expands food support after receiving extra funding

The highly popular food scheme which provides meals and cheap food for people on low incomes, has opened a new share table and will be offering new cooking courses for budgeted meals at the beginning of next year.

This comes just months after OsNosh was forced to close its popular community café which was held at the Centre in Oak Street.

“We have received some extra funding from the food bank,” said Director and chef at OsNosh, Bex Syrett.

“It allows OsNosh to cook meals for recipients at the food bank, but with it, there's a proviso that we also provide a recipe and then having received a frozen meal, they go and cook the meal themselves another week.

“It will help them sort of get back on the sort of cooking ladder, as it were, so that they can start being a little bit more self-sufficient themselves.

These sessions will be starting back at the Centre in the new year and will see people referred to them from the food bank.

Alongside this OsNosh has also started a new share table in Oswestry Library which covers two ways for people to get healthy affordable food.

“It is a great place because we've got more footfall over there,” said Bex.

“There are more people passing through and we can talk to them about what we do.

“We've got children's sessions, story time sessions, so lots of young mums coming through, lots of people who might be coming to use the library for the other services that are there.”

The weekly table which is held every Wednesday will allow those who need it, to stock up a bag with fruit and veg for just £2 along with a new larger scale offer.

“We also started doing a box scheme where you can get a regular supply of fruit and veg for a certain price,” said Bex.

“For £8, you get a nice box full of about 10 varieties of fruit and veg plus bread, plus cakes. It's quite a nice little deal.”

Bex has said the extra funding could be coming in at a vital time as there are expected to be increased pressures on food prices in coming months.

“Coming down the line, things are not looking good in terms of the cost of food going up,” said Bex.

“The poor harvest and the cost of fuel and all that sort of stuff.

“So if we can find more ways to support people, at a lower cost than the average shop at the supermarket, well then that's great.”

OsNosh’s Share table can be found at Oswestry Library from 10am to 12pm every Wednesday.