LIZ MILLS, on behalf of the Dartmouth and District Food Bank, writes: Following the success of the Dartmouth and District Food Bank Christmas luncheon, we are now looking forward to 2015 to continue with our main role in the town, which is ­providing food and, in some urgent cases, helping with ­energy payments to vulnerable people in our community. The Christmas lunch was a great success in that we had a higher attendance than last year's and tremendous support by way of volunteers working on Christmas Day to help cook, serve, wash up and clean and tidy up after the event. We received wonderful donations of food and toys from the citizens of Dartmouth and local businesses, too many to name individually. All were gratefully received by us and our clients. As is always the case, we did have some food to spare, but none has gone to waste as we were able to provide meals to those who were not able to attend on the day. The remainder were frozen and these meals will now be used by the food bank and the community cooking club in the coming weeks. The response to the various appeals put out by the food bank reaped its rewards and donations are still coming in for the fuel poverty campaign. The Buy a Christmas Dinner voucher was also a huge ­success and, as a result, no valuable funds from the food bank account were used to provide the Christmas luncheon. All expenses were covered by the funds from this latter ­campaign, not forgetting the generous donations from our local businesses. It was a true example of Christmas cheer and goodwill. There were several families and single people who benefited from the event. One said it was one of the best Christmases he had ever celebrated, as he usually spent it on his own. 'Are you doing it again next year?', we were asked. We certainly are. In the coming months, now that we are settled in our new premises in the Ivy Lane Youth Club, we are hoping to expand on our cooking club theme. To make it more inclusive we are opting for a name change, so in future it will be known as the Community Cooking Club. We believe there is a real need for us to continue with the preparation and freezing of food. To do this, several of our volunteers will be undertaking manufacturing courses to ensure that all requirements are met. Our vision is to see the Community Cooking Club as more of a drop-in centre, where clients will find a warm ­welcome, a cup of coffee and a hot meal. It is open every Wednesday evening between 5pm and 7pm. The food bank will continue to meet at the Ivy Lane Youth Club every Wednesday from noon to 2pm.