Our new van has arrived!

Catch 77 has new wheels! We recently took delivery of a new van to help us do more to help people in difficult circumstances to eat well across Devon.

We are massively grateful to everyone who has made this possible. Firstly to Dave Twiddle, a local resident and Director at the distribution company Whistl. Dave sourced the temporary loan of a van for Catch 77 when we scaled up last Christmas, and it was his idea to try to provide us with a longer term solution. His idea – and his persistence that has made the van a reality. Then thanks to Mary Dopson-Taylor and the team at Grosvenor Leasing who have provided the van and stocked it full of food supplies for our families when it was delivered; to Paul Macpherson, the National Fleet Manager at Whistl who delivered the van in person and to Whistl more generally who are covering the running costs; and to Daniel Field and Andrew Warrender at VGL who did the sign writing on the van.

And last but absolutely not least, a big thank you to everyone who donated to enable us to have sufficient funds to cover the insurance and day-to-day running costs of the van. Too many people to name, but we are really grateful to all of you.

The van will be mainly used for collecting food and supplies, as our deliveries are mostly done by volunteers. It has already been put to good use, making things much easier compared to squeezing crates in and out of our cars! It will also help us grow our educational and external catering services which are a key part of our plans moving forwards, and enable us to extend our recipe box services to a wider geographical area, working in a hub-and-spoke model with local partner organisations.

So a massive thank you to everyone who has had a hand in making the van a reality. If you see it out and about and are active on social media, please do post a quick photo and a shout out to all our fabulous volunteers that enable us to help people to eat well across Devon.