A FOOD bank in Ferndown has been given more time before an eviction notice is served, after concerns raised by the community.

In March 2024, Ferndown Food Bank was given six months to move out of Ferndown Day Centre and find somewhere else to operate.

The foodbank is run by Ferndown Community Support (FCS), who have been working ‘tirelessly to engage with Dorset Council and Care Dorset.’

Following these initial discussions, it is confirmed that the eviction notice is now to be decided, as opposed to having a fixed end date of September 19.

Hannah Hobbs-Chell, co-founder of the food bank, said: “We are pleased that common sense is beginning to prevail, and we are pleased to finally be engaging with officers and decision-makers at both Dorset Council and Care Dorset.”

The food bank in Ferndown supports 50-70 households a day, 6 days a week, and offers both fresh and tinned foods.

It allows people to come twice a week for as long as they need to get out of crisis and aims to provide up to 70% of clients’ food needs, with clients encouraged to increasingly supplement the food offered with their own shopping.

Alongside this, the food bank also offers a pet bank, hygiene bank, baby bank, benefits and welfare advisor, family cooking sessions, community allotment and the UK’s first and only medicine bank.

Ferndown Community Support say they are looking forward to further dialogue with Dorset Council and Care Dorset to find a more permanent solution and working relationship.

FCS’s petition to Care Dorset, Dorset Council and MP Christopher Chope is still available to sign either online or in person at several outlets in Ferndown.

A foodbank user said: “This place and these people keep me alive and accommodate my disability and needs, and I really love the friends I meet here. The people and community are wonderful, and I feel safe here.”

They added: "I am so horrified and wounded that anyone could deem to actually close this place down. We are really sad about it.”

A Dorset Council spokesperson said: “Care Dorset and Dorset Council are working with the Ferndown Food Bank find the best possible solution for the food bank and the residents who use it. 

"This means that the eviction date has been retracted whilst all parties work towards a long-term solution."