24/07 Today was the last morning of delivering for #hertfood. Thank you to each and every person who donated and supported us!! We managed to provide 38 000 meals to families over the last 18 weeks.

13/07 With your help we are now in our twelfth week of doing Hertfood. Through your incredible generosity we have managed to raise our target of £4000! This has ensured that we have enough to provide fresh food to families until the end of the summer holidays. Anything over the £4000 we raise - will go towards providing Christmas meals for families who may need support over the festive season - yes we are thinking of Christmas in July!

Sometimes something comes across your path for a reason and you just have to do something about it.

Just before Easter I had this idea that some kids may not be getting Easter Eggs this year. I randomly mentioned this to Debs Bonfield from Manic Ceramics and before you know it we had hatched a plan to deliver 100 Easter Eggs and arts & craft kits.

A couple of weeks later I read an article somebody had shared on how kids are not getting food given the schools are shut; the normal holiday provision is not in place and the £15 vouchers are just not getting through to families. Debs has a lot of contact with the schools through other work she does - so I called her and asked do we have an issue locally. Within hours we realised we did.

The first week I set off and bought fresh food for a week for 14 families. The idea (developed with the social workers) is that families can access packaged food through the Foodbank. After that first shop I realised it was not sustainable financially to do it on my own and also it is just a bit too much to pick up and sort in one go.

I reached out to one of the wholesalers and managed to setup an account and food is now being delivered weekly to one of the schools for around 16 families. Through sheer luck I managed to get the first 6 odd deliveries funded which has been extend to cover us until the end of the summer holidays!

Then we heard of more and more families. So I was back at Tesco a week later picking the shop up for 7 families - fully funded this time by donations!!

I know it is very hard to just trust random strangers and donate to them. We are not set up as a charity - we are just trying to fulfil an immediate need.

So I thought I would tell you a little more about us. I have lived first in Watton-at-Stone and then in a Hertford since 2005. I have four children. Usually on Saturdays I am pitchside at Bury Rangers u/6 and u/8 and outside of the rugby season we are at Hartham parkrun junior every Sunday. Kids usually do around 40 extra-curricular activities a week, so never a dull moment in our household. Given we are a bit of a crowd you may have also seen us pounding the streets in Bengeo and in the surrounding fields for our daily walks during lockdown.

Debs has been running Manic Ceramics for 18 years and also used to have Manic Munchies in Hertford. She is an active member of the Yarn Bombers and passionate about supporting the community with art and crafts projects and their links to wellbeing. At the moment you will find free kits for local kids outside her shop everyday (although I keep on insisting that those who can should donate to it!) and she also delivers to key worker children and families that need support on a weekly basis. Currently she is also an NHS Emergency Responder so I don't know when she sleeps!