Baker issues plea for donations to support Wakefield foodbank

Alexandra Vaughan runs the Crow's Rest Bakehouse in Agbrigg, where she teaches bread making and runs her business from her kitchen.

During the coronavirus pandemic, she has been baking extra loaves of bread for the nearby Foodbank at St Catherine's Church Centre, but worries that she will not be able to continue this without further public support.

She says she has seen a sharp reduction in income since the start of the pandemic, with her workshops and husband's work badly affected.

She is now concerned that she will have to stop baking for the foodbank to protect herself.

Alexandra said: "I'm being really hit because a lot of my income comes from workshops. On Mondays I bake for the foodbank, on Wednesdays and Thursdays I'm baking for people who come to collect from my home.

"It's just trying to find outlets and get the bread where people can actually get to it. I'm probably baking around 200 loaves a week, I'm just trying to understand what people want.

"Normally I offer more variety of bread, but for the foodbank I'm getting through stock I've got in the house.

"I had one of my customers bring me a bag of chickpea flour, another is an ambulance driver and he gave some money to help that let me buy 25kg of flour.

"With my husband unemployed as well there's a limit to how much I can give. I'm trying to make sure that I can provide a service as much as I can, I want to be helping the foodbank.

"As long as I can get enough money to help me with the foodbank.

"If I get 10 people give me £1 each, I can buy flour. Every little helps. Anything will help, even if it's just flour and things like that."

Alexandra also bakes bread for popular city centre takeaway Bear Kitchen who, along with environmental group The Real Junk Food Project and a team of other businesses, have been collecting and distributing food to those in need, including NHS workers who may not be able to visit a shop.

She is also continuing to bake bread for sale during the crisis, asking people to collect or delivering where possible.

Contact The Crow's Rest Bakehouse on Facebook or Twitter for more information.

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