The Devon & Cornwall Food Association Ltd (DCFA)

NEWSLETTER
January February 2012
Patrons: Judi SPIERS, BBC Radio Devon David WHITE, BBC Radio Cornwall Mobile: 07745819828 (text only)

Spare Food is Share Food!

Email: saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://dcfa.webs.com

7 Whimple Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 2DH

FOREWORD BY THE COMPANY CHAIR

Mrs. Christine REID
Dear Friends and Supporters, This is the first Newsletter for 2012 and may I start by wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012? This is certainly the hope for DCFA for this new year! DCFA should know by the end of January whether its accommodation at the SHIP Hostel is to be permanent. Please keep your fingers crossed for us! Victoria HURTH, the DCFA Project Coordinator, is arranging a Workshop for Wednesday, 11th January, to further investigate the needs of our customers and also to give them an update on the progress being made by DCFA. Turkeys & Pheasants! I think especial thanks must go to Geoff READ for transporting a good supply of large turkeys and pheasants to our customers in time for Christmas, and some after Christmas... I do hope they were enjoyed by all that received them! Our colleagues at DCFA Exeter are now moving ahead apace and have identified premises in Exeter City Centre they might use. Im sure we all wish them well as we move forward into this new year. Thank you all for your continuing support!

EDITORIAL COMMENT

NTERNET Links. If youre reading this on-line and come across words with blue lettering that are underlined, then you can click on these links and be taken directly to another site for more information on that particular topic. If you read this on Microsoft Word, you can put your cursor over the link, hold down the Control (Ctrl) Key and click! Ed.

STOP PRESS! A NEW DCFA PATRON

OU WILL RECALL THAT Judi SPIERS of BBC Radio Devon is a DCFA Patron. This left the Cornish side of DCFA a little bit out of things! So DCFA is so very pleased to inform you that David WHITE of Radio Cornwall has now agreed to become its second DCFA Patron. For information on the Judi SPIERS Show please click on the link. For information on the David WHITE Show please click on the link.

PERSONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

B A B

EST WISHES FOR a very Happy Birthday to Amanda th HURLOW for Wednesday, 11 January 2012. Amanda is a Friend of DCFA. Happy Birthday Amanda! VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Robert SPRINGETT for st Saturday, 21 January 2012. Rob is a Friend of DCFA and the organiser of the Polperro Music & Arts Festival for 2012. Have a lovely day Rob! If anyone wishes to know more about the festival, please click on this link. EST WISHES FOR a very Happy Birthday to Samantha st Jayne BURDEN for Tuesday, 21 February 2012. Samantha is a Friend of DCFA. Happy Birthday Samantha!

Christine
Christine REID Chair, DCFA Board of Trustees

The Devon & Cornwall Food Association Ltd. (DCFA) is a Private Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Company No. 07419679. Registered Charity No. - DCFA is recognised by HMRC as a Charity for tax purposes under Reference XT27083. Members of : NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) Membership No. MEMBERVC/13004, CASAP (Community &Social Action Plymouth), The Small Charities Coalition, And Volunteering England Membership No.1278747.
Our Funder:

And Voluntary Donations.

DCFA WORKSHOP

AN URGENT REQUIREMENT!

LEASE SEE THE OPEN INVITATION below from Victoria HURTH, our new part-time DCFA Project Coordinator...

Dear All, Firstly I would like to introduce myself. I am the new DCFA Project Coordinator. My initial role, which is part-time, is to help the DCFA to attract funding so that it can expand its support of all our charitable organisations. As part of this task, it is important to me that I get to know all the organisations we work with, and better understand their current and future requirements. Additionally, in order to put good funding bids together it is vital that the projects we put forward show best practice in serving those requirements, and how best to involve the end-users of the food we provide for their longterm benefit. In this context, I would like to invite you to a half-day DCFA Workshop at the new premises of DCFA to discuss these issues in a semi-structured format. The proposed date for this is 9.30 th a.m. - 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 January 2012. We are working to fairly tight timescales and I would therefore be grateful if you were able to find time to attend this meeting. If you cannot attend this date then it would help me if you could provide the dates you could make that week and the week after, so I can judge if a revision is necessary. I am looking forward to meeting you all. In the meantime I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Victoria This invitation is open to all with priority being given to our DCFA Customers (those organisations receiving dairy produce each week). Would you please send Geoff READ the name and contact details of the representatives you wish to attend? For further information please see this link... http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2333725 We have to limit the number of vacancies on this DCFA Workshop and these will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, with priority being given to representatives from our DCFA Customers. Please contact Geoff READ to ask for vacancies or further information. (Details on top of page 1.)

CFA URGENTLY NEEDS to list the services of a volunteer to become our Treasurer. The ideal candidate will of course have a background in financial matters and will be offered a Trusteeship on the DCFA Board of Trustees. This post is currently covered by Geoff READ who is also the Company Secretary and Chief Bottle Washer. There must be someone out there... please help! Please contact Geoff... details at the top of this page.

DCFA NEEDS HELP NOW AT THE SHIP HOSTEL

OW THAT DCFA has taken over the Ship Hostel we are using the next few weeks to get it tidied up and fit for use. Making it ship-shape! Can you help us to do some tidying up and cleaning? If you can spare an hour then please get in touch with Karen BOWLER on 0794 867 828 or email her at: karen.bowler@gmx.co.uk

PUBLICITY IN THE PLYMOUTH HERALD

CFA WERE DELIGHTED to find the following article had been published in th the Plymouth Herald on Tuesday, 27 December 2011: Taking the pasta pledge can help to reduce food poverty A CHARITY which aims to reduce food poverty in local communities is asking people to support its 'Pasta Pesto Pledge'. The Plymouth-based Devon & Cornwall Food Association (DCFA) was formed in early 2011 to provide food to organisations working with disadvantaged people. It currently supports around 15 local organisations including Age Concern, the Plymouth Foodbank and The Shekinah Mission. The charity hopes the Pasta Pesto Pledge will help it raise money to expand. It involves swapping a more expensive meal for the cheaper alternative of pasta with pesto and donating the difference to the DCFA via localgiving.com The charity also aims to divert quality in-date food from landfill and donate it to the organisations. Buy working with local food suppliers, in the first 42 weeks of running, DCFA prevented almost 11,500 litres of milk as well as large quantities of cream from going to landfill. This saved more than 11,000 for charitable organisations who could use the money to support more people, the DCFA says. The charity is now seeking funding to expand its early work to include many more food suppliers. This requires permanent premises, training funds, transport and staff to manage the process. Email saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk to become a friend of DCFA and receive regular updates about how they are making a difference.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

OW THAT DCFA has permanent premises we will soon be trading in earnest and looking to accept deliveries of food produce from all manner of food producers and food outlets. DCFA is going to need a lot of help from volunteers. Can you help? Please contact Geoff READ to ask for vacancies or further information. (Details on top of page 1.)

Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.

PUBLICITY IN THE WESTERN MORNING NEWS

But this information is subject to change at short notice!

January 2012 Tuesday, 7 th February 2012 March 2012 Tuesday, 3rd April 2012 May 2012 Tuesday, 12th June 2012 No Meeting General Board Meeting No meeting General Board Meeting No meeting General Board Meeting

ASTA SWAP PLEDGE To Help Region's Poor. This article was published in the Western nd Morning News on Thursday, 22 December 201: A West Country charity that uses unwanted food to feed the region's hungry is now urging people to eat pasta... in a bid to raise enough money to feed even more mouths. The Devon & Cornwall Food Association's (DCFA) "FullFilling" project aims to divert quality in-date food from landfill and use it to supply organisations in Devon and Cornwall that feed disadvantaged people. The charity has just launched its latest campaign, the Pasta Pesto Pledge, in which they are asking people to swap a weekly meal for a cheap pasta alternative, donating the difference to the DCFA. Victoria HURTH, DCFA Project Coordinator, said: "DCFA is now seeking funding to expand its pilot to include many more food suppliers. "This requires permanent premises, training funds, transport and staff to manage the process and support our committed volunteers. "Food banks have recorded a 30% increase in the demand for food across the country and so it's vital that we try and do as much as possible. "The pledge is really about trying to get people involved for the long term." Increasing food prices and unprecedented austerity have meant a high rise in demand for food by those most in need in the region. DCFA currently supports around 15 local organisations including Age Concern, Foodbank and The Shekinah Mission. Since its opening, the charity has prevented 12,086 litres of milk from going to landfill and issued it to charitable organisations in the area that deal with disadvantaged people, saving them more than 11,000. Anyone wanting to take part in the Pasta Pesto Pledge can donate via www.localgiving.com.

PLYMOUTH FUNDRAISER GROUP MEETING

THE NEXT GROUP MEETING will be held at 12 noon on Friday, th 27 January 2012 at St. Lukes Hospice. If anyone wishes to know more about this Group then please contact: Paul READ at pread@routeways.org.uk

AN ARTICLE BY WENDY CHAPMAN

DCFA Trustee Hi! Its that time of year again when Christmas is over and thing look gloomy and dreary, but there are a lot of plusses; were doing very well at DCFA with lots of things happening. Victoria HURTH has been employed as our new part-time Project Coordinator, with view to helping us move forward and secure some funding to support our cause. As Manager of the Shekinah Dropin Centre, I see so many people hit by deprivation who I know we could help through the actions of DCFA. This is borne out by the way we at Shekinah have been blessed by the provision of dairy and some other products via DCFA over the past four months; which in turn, has enabled us to ease the hardship of our service users, albeit in a small way so far. But our hopes are high for the assistance of others in similar circumstances. Along with this tangible support Shekinah will also assist with budgetary advice, and with Gods blessing, well be able to help in more ways and with even more food products... Watch this space! Should anyone feel that they would like to help or support DCFA, even in a small way, then please dont hesitate to contact Geoff READ, the Company Secretary. Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy & Peaceful New Year!

DCFA MEETINGS

ECEMBER 2011 Meeting. This Board Meeting held on th Tuesday, 6 December at the Shekinah Mission in Plymouth. Those attending demolished the Mince Pies and Cream after the meeting. Our thanks go to the Shekinah Mission for their seasonal hospitality!

N F

EXT MEETING. The next DCFA Board Meeting will be on th Tuesday, 7 February 2011 at the Ship Hostel, Plymouth. This meeting will start at 10.30 a.m. UTURE MEETINGS. All meetings are scheduled to start at 10.30 a.m. on the first Tuesday of each alternate calendar month at the Ship Hostel unless stated otherwise.

Wendy Chapman
Wendy CHAPMAN DCFA Trustee

Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.

THE DCFA PHEASANT RUN

OTHER NEWS
DISCLAIMER DCFA reserves the right to select and edit articles submitted. The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of DCFA. Although we do our best to ensure the information is accurate, DCFA is not liable for any incorrect information or errors contained herein.

EOFF READ DROVE to Carswell Farm near Mothecombe th Beach on Tuesday, 20 December 2011 to collect almost 60 pheasants and deliver them the same day to our participating charitable organisations. These are some of the charities that benefitted:
Age Concern Amber Initiatives The Action Group for Halcyon (The Halcyon Centre) The Friends & Residents of Sutton Trust The Salvation Army: Congress Hall

DCFA is so very grateful to Noel DALY of Carswell Farm for supplying the birds, and to Chris FORREST of Yealmpton for providing us with the initial contact.

THE SECOND DCFA PHEASANT RUN

EOFF READ DROVE to J. Haimes & Sons Partners, at th West Sherford on Wednesday, 4 January 2012 to collect over 80 pheasants and deliver them the same day to our participating charitable organisations. DCFA is so very grateful to Lesley HAIMES for supplying the birds, and to Chris FORREST of Yealmpton for once again, providing us with the initial contact.

ORNWALL SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS. Gitty ANKERS submitted this article and says she is pleased to announce that the Pensilva Depot of the Robert Wiseman Dairies won this year's award for The Best Managed Medium Business Category at a ceremony held at Royal Cornwall Show Ground in Wadebridge on Friday, 16th December 2011. This photograph shows a proud Julie WINDMILL-MAY with Dick STRAWBRIDGE, the TV presenter with the best moustache in show business! Julie is the king-pin at the Pensilva Depot and has also helped DCFA to divert over 10,000 from landfill to charitable causes. Everyone at DCFA are over the moon at this award. Congratulations Julie and everyone else at Wisemans!

THE THIRD DCFA TURKEY RUN

EOFF READ DROVE up to Sladesdown Farm at Ashburton again on Christmas Eve to collect a further fifteen 20lb free-range turkeys and delivered them the same day to our participating charitable organisations.
Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support The Reestart Recovery House The Salvation Army: Congress Hall

For a bigger photograph please go to DCFA Facebook page: http://goo.gl/MHCPX Best Medium Managed Business sponsored by the University of Exeter. The 2011 Winner: Robert Wiseman Dairies (Pensilva Depot) Liskeard-based dairy whose team on a local level really have the drive and energy to make a difference to their community by working at a grass roots level. In particular the company has greatly reduced the amount of waste it sends to landfill by launching a pioneering project with local charity, the Devon & Cornwall Food Association (DCFA). The company has a sustainability strategy for the next five years to reduce their environmental impact. And in the last 12 months these measures have seen them reduce energy, waste, water and pollution significantly. They are also going beyond the ISO14001 standard in order to drive further improvement. More Information regarding the Cornwall Sustainability Awards can be found by clicking on this link.

DCFA is once again so very grateful to Daniel & Elaine MASON!

ANOTHER URGENT REQUIREMENT!

ANDA HAS BEEN our very own IT advisor and webmaster since DCFA began. Kanda has decided that she now needs to take a break to concentrate on other things in her life. We will miss her constant guidance and assistance but thank her for all she has done and wish her well for the future. This leaves DCFA with a void. Who will run our website? Can you help? Can you offer advice? There must be someone out there... please help! Please contact Geoff... details at the bottom of this page.

Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.

OLPERRO MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL. The following is a a Press Release fresh in from the organisers:

Planning for the 2012 Polperro Music & Arts Festival is well under way and the committee has been lucky enough to have been awarded a grant from the Co-Operative Community Fund. The committee members spend all year fundraising to enable the nine-day festival in June to remain free to all whilst highlighting the history and heritage of the historic and picturesque fishing village. Rob SPRINGETT (Festival Chairperson) says This years th festival is the 17 in a row and takes a lot of dedication and planning from volunteers but can be very rewarding. We also try and highlight and promote the work of other groups as well as our own so for 2012 well be championing the important work of the Polperro Environmental Group and Polperro District Memory Cafe, The Devon & Cornwall Food Association (DCFA) and the British Hen Welfare Trust amongst others. If community groups and charities can share the workload and work together and help each other then it benefits all concerned especially in this economic climate. Although generally not an exciting subject it is an important area for any community group. One of our biggest expenditures is stationery and the money received from the Co-operative Community Fund will be put towards this so we would like to thank the Cooperative Group and its members This year you can look forward to a Comedy Night although the guests are still a secret, last year we were lucky to have TV personalities Josh WIDDICOMBE and James ACASTER. We will also have the usual arts and crafts stalls, Carnival, outdoor music and well as Paulines Bingo, Foody Friday! and many other fringe events as well as the main Festival marquee on Big Green. More information about the events and updates can be found on our website. Saturday, 16 Sunday, 24 June 2012 Telephone: (07813) 303445 You can also become a friend and follow us on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/pages/polperro-estival/178134535534063 or Twitter www.twitter.com/polperrofest
th th

ARM WEATHER BRINGS a Fit of the Cauli Wobbles: Topsy-turvy weather means vegetables arrive three months early. This article was published by the Daily Mail th on Thursday, 29 December 2011 by Tamara Cohen: Bumper crops of vegetables are arriving months too early in the latest saga of this years topsy-turvy weather. Farmers say they are harvesting cabbages, sprouts, broccoli and cauliflowers up to three months earlier than usual and some fear they could see shortages in the Spring. Yesterday forecasters predicted temperatures could reach 14C on New Years Eve... great for outdoor revellers... in what would be one of the most unusual weather events in years. Unexpected rise: Farmers are tending to crops that are reaping ahead of schedule. After a cool day today (29 ) with strong winds and some showers, a stretch of mild weather th will begin tomorrow (30 ) and continue into the first week of 2012. At Riverford Farm near Totnes in Devon, which supplies 40,000 households with vegetables every week, Savoy cabbages are already so big they have burst of out their boxes and between 15 and 20% of the crop had to be ploughed back into the ground. Christmas morning: Despite the traditionally colder season a farmer heads across his field on a mild day in County Durham. Harvest manager Ed SCOTT said without a cold snap which allows leeks and cabbages to hibernate and start growing again in February or March, they had just carried on. He said: This crop has become so confused by the comparatively warm conditions that as well as maturing well ahead of schedule, a fair number of the plants are actually flowering. This should not be happening until February and theyve been blooming through December, a full three months early. Our concern now is whether or not these crops will hold till we can pick them. I never thought Id say this, especially after last years brutal winter, but bring on the snow and ice! Both cabbage, left and cauliflower fields have been benefiting from warmer climates. Cornish farmers are predicting a cauliflower shortage after an early crop. Philip PRYOR, a grower near Truro in Cornwall, said that the warm weather had caused a glut and a fall in prices, and said if the weather does not return to normal volumes are not going to be there for what is required.
th

Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.

Last years freezing winter saw temperatures reach -7C and vegetable crops frozen into the ground. The National Farmers Union played down reports of shortages and said the early crops had been seen in the south west of England but were not a national picture. A spokeswoman said: This has not been the case all over the country, and although the warm weather has made the seasons move around a bit, we are not going to see any empty supermarket shelves. We are likely to see the Spring crops arrive earlier than usual too. The warm spell which began in late September has hardly abated with temperatures reaching a Boxing Day high of 15.5C (60F) in Aberdeenshire... the average daytime temperature for June. Gardeners claimed to have seen snowdrops, which usually appear in February, and even daffodils blooming early in Devon and Buckinghamshire over Christmas. Sacha HUBBARD of Hill House Plant Nursery, Ashburton, Devon wrote on Twitter: A daffodil is in flower... not a usual Christmas event at all! A Met Office spokesman said: Temperatures are slightly above average but the windy weather means it doesnt feel like it yet, but it will warm up again from Friday and New Years Eve will be particularly mild. The first week or so of January is expected to be relatively mild but unsettled, with cloudy periods with some rain interspersed with colder, clearer and more showery weather. To read more on this article please click on this link.

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Welcome to DCFA Website:

http://dcfa.webs.com/intro.htm

DAIRY PRODUCE DELIVERIES!

http://dcfa.webs.com/stats.htm

ISEMANS DAIRIES WILL be delivering their last lot of dairy produce (Milk & Cream) to the Salvation Army th Congress Hall on Thursday, 12 January 2012. Thereafter and th with effect from Thursday, 19 January 2012, Wisemans will be delivering to DCFA at The Ship Hostel early in the morning. Receiving Organisations should be able to collect their issues from the Ship from 8 a.m. onwards. Hopefully you wont all turn up at the same time as only one customer can be served at any one time! DCFA should like to take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Derek POOK of the Salvation Army for hosting us over the past few months when we had nowhere to go, and to Lorraine who supplied us with never-ending cups of tea!

http://dcfa.webs.com/sponsors.htm

http://dcfa.webs.com/ppp.htm

DAIRY PRODUCE IN 2011

In 45 weeks of 2011, DCFA prevented nearly 13,000 litres of good quality milk from going to landfill and issued it to charitable organisations in the area that deal with disadvantaged people. This represents an overall saving to those Charitable organisations of nearly 13,000...just for fresh milk!

Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.