Mansfield high-flyer at heart of foodbank charity scheme

A sky-diving, wing-walking Mansfield woman has found herself at the heart of a major £100,000 charity initiative to keep foodbanks stocked across the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

28 year old Lauren Warner, an international transport planner at Mansfield’s Taylor’s Transport, has her work cut out.  She is at the centre of operations for Rotary4foodbanks which is providing vital supplies to over 50 foodbanks in the region.  Now, with supermarket giant Morrisons linking to the ground-breaking scheme, she is set to get even busier.

Since the launch of Rotary4foodbanks in April this year, Taylor’s has been on board, donating space, staff and vehicles to manage the stocks which the Rotary team has been buying in bulk for foodbanks.  Because Rotary4foodbanks buys at wholesale prices, foodbanks get even greater value from public cash donations at a time when demand for their services is doubling too.

Says Lauren, “I have not been furloughed throughout the covid crisis and was only too happy to take on the extra work involved in managing the distribution of food to foodbanks.  At Taylor’s, we’ve always tried to give back to the community and this is such a practical way of using our expertise to meet a real need.”

Rotary4foodbanks, which is already distributing £100,000 worth of staple foods like tea coffee, cereals and tinned fruit, now works with supermarket giant Morrisons’ bulk buy scheme, set up specifically to help charities.  Lauren was on hand to receive the first Morrisons delivery of nearly 28,000 items of food which recently arrived at Taylors Huthwaite distribution centre.

Lauren, who lives with her partner in Mansfield, is no stranger to charity endeavours.  Having already completed a sky-dive in support of the John Eastwood Hospice in Sutton in Ashfield where her grandfather spent his final days, she is planning a wing-walk early next year to raise funds for research into endometriosis.

“Right now though,” she says, “my focus is on working with Rotary4foodbanks to ensure that no-one goes hungry as the post-Covid recession hits more and more families in our region.”

Eventually, Rotary4foodbanks hopes that the government will give financial backing to grow the scheme nationally.  John Cavey, project leader, explains: “Until then we are relying on product donations from food sector companies and cash funding from other thriving businesses.  And of course, we welcome donations from the always generous great British public.  To help, we have set up a just giving page, where people can add value by gift aiding their donations.

You can support Rotary4Foodbanks through our JustGiving page