BELVILLE Community Garden has come up with a recipe for success in the fight against food poverty.

The charity, which was at the heart of the grassroots relief effort during the coronavirus outbreak, now aims to support families coming out of lockdown.

Cook Jonathan Pearson has been sending out boxes bursting with ingredients to help people cook fresh meals using step-by-step instruction photographs and online tutorials.

The boxes have been an overwhelming success and the team at the gardens now hope to find a way to continue the pilot programme.

Belville bosses have vowed to work alongside other groups to keep food insecurity at the top of the agenda as the recovery begins.

Jonathan, part of the community response team which operated out of the Crawfurdsburn base during the peak of the pandemic, said: "We have had lots of people wanting to take part.

"It has been great.

"We send out the recipe boxes and then I help people make them meals on my Facebook live posts.

"It is family classics, things like spaghetti bolognese."

Jonathan has been part of the Belville Community Garden for nearly two years.

He started with a six month placement and has since become a valued member of the team.

Up until March he prepared the food, along with volunteers, for the hub's weekly 'soup and a blether' get-togethers.

The recipe box project is now coming to an end but the garden team are working hard with others to establish a long term strategy to fight food poverty.

Before the Covid-19 crisis manager Laura Reilly and her team had previously set up a community fridge scheme to make sure no-one is hungry.

They also work in schools to help pupils and families to reduce food waste.