Hyndburn Food Pantry marks new partnership with NLTG

Accrington-based training provider North Lancs Training Group (NLTG) recently welcomed the Hyndburn Food Pantry to its Old Bakery Centre as part of a new collaboration, aimed at helping people across the borough.

Plans are set to be announced in the next few weeks, which will see people who use the food bank on Broadway in Accrington, given the opportunity to make use of the training facilities provided by NLTG.

Hyndburn Food Pantry, which is run by volunteers, helps those in need, offering them the chance to choose their own food, rather than providing pre-packed parcels.

Organiser of the Food Pantry, Stacy Walsh, and the Food Pantry team were shown around the exceptional facilities by NLTG’s JCP Provision Manager Carl Morris, where they got to see first-hand what courses are on offer for people on benefits.

The tour of NLTG’s Vocational Centre of Excellence, at their Old Bakery Centre on Grange Lane, Accrington, included a tour of their catering facilities, Level 1 furniture workshop course, IT suite and breakout area.

Stacy said: “There’s some excellent facilities. We weren’t actually fully aware of how much there is here; we’ve seen upholstery, we’ve seen cooking, we’ve seen Maths, we’ve seen English and there’s lots and lots of different courses.

“It’s going to be a really exciting time for us in the future and we’ll be letting everyone know about it shortly.”

Carl added: “We are always looking at ways in which we can work with other local businesses for the good of our community.

“Hyndburn Food Pantry provides a wonderful service for the people of Hyndburn and we can’t wait to work with Stacy and her team to offer additional training to those in need.”

Courses provided by NLTG include IT, Employability Skills, Hospitality, Furniture Manufacturing, Retail/Customer Service, Food Safety, Maths and English, with the opportunity to work towards a nationally recognised qualification.

The duration of the courses range from 1 day up to 20 days and include free lunch, as well as free tea and coffee throughout the day, whilst benefits can still be claimed.

More information about NLTG’s courses can be found on their website https://www.nltg.co.uk/adult-learners/courses-for-the-unemployed/