Sudbury charity seeks planning permission to expand food bank to cope with Christmas donations

A Sudbury church charity, which helps people in crisis, needs extra space to cope with its Christmas food donations.

Stour Valley Vineyard is seeking planning permission to put a portable cabin measuring 24 foot by 10 foot in the grounds of its Vineyard Centre premises in Tudor Road.

The porta-cabin will be used to house the 1,200 pre-packed food bags it supplies as part of its Storehouse Foodbank at Christmas time, and the cabin needs to be in place by the end of November.

In a design and access statement to Babergh District Council, Emma Stewart-Darling said the charity leases its premises from Ormiston Sudbury Academy.

“The bigger issue of space requirements is that, with Storehouse, we give out Christmas bags which creates a spike in our stock flow,” she said.

“In order to store the packed bags in the three weeks leading up to Christmas, we need extra space, so we need the cabin in place by the end of November if possible to house the 1,200 pre-packed bags.”

Stour Valley Vineyard runs Sunday services, youth and children’s groups, money courses, conferences and training.

It helps 60 local people in crisis per week and has around 90 people a week attending the groups that it runs.

Last year, it helped more than 2,300 people through its food bank.

Mrs Stewart-Darling said the charity had already gained permission for the porta-cabin from Ormiston Sudbury Academy.

The planning application is expected to go before Babergh District Council shortly.