Founder of food bank told by council she can no longer make hampers from her home

The founder of a food bank who was honoured for her community work by local authorities just 18 months ago has now been told by the same council that she can no longer make food hampers for those in need from her own home.

Kind-hearted mum-of-one Ashling Lowe has selflessly been making up to 20 food hampers a week for families in need across Meath since 2017 from generous public donations of non-perishable items.

In the two weeks prior to Christmas, Ashling donated 77 hampers to families in emergency accommodation or those who, after paying the mortgage and bills, had no money left for food.

Ashling had been using her local authority home in Trim as a base to store the donations of food which were distributed by a group of 30 volunteers. Generous donors also gave a shed while one lady used all her bingo winnings to buy her fridges to keep the food fresh.

However she has been left devastated after being told this week by council representatives that she is no longer allowed to make hampers at her home, on the back of a complaint.

Local Aontu TD Peadar Toibin has since made his local constituency offices available to her for a place to store the food.

In a post on social media, she said: "Unfortunately, due to a complaint, we can no longer operate the food bank from my address, which means we can no longer take food.

"The complaint was regarding traffic coming and going from my home to drop off non-perishable foods and to collect and distribute food hampers to help impoverished families in the county."

"I'm running a non-profit group here. It's not a business that I'm making anything out of. The council representatives said I had to close but when I told them of all the families that were relying on this food, they said they would try and find me some kind of alternative accommodation in which to take the food and make hampers.

"It was only 18 months ago that I was asked to go to Meath Co Council chamber to receive a certificate of honour for my positive work in my community. Now, they're telling me that I can't do it anymore."

She said she has received panicked phone calls from some of the families she helps worried about what they will do without the hamper.

"We make up to 20 hampers a week and this rose to 77 in the two weeks up to Christmas. Some people really do have nothing.

"I have a fantastic group of volunteers who are heartbroken to hear this news. I have children whose faces light up when they donate their hard-earned pocket money and I have people with special needs coming to help stock the shelves.

"Generous donors gave me a shed to keep the non-perishable food while another lady used her bingo winnings to buy two fridges to keep food fresh.

"It really is a community helping their community and I really am shocked by this. I was hoping to continue helping with food vouchers and I'm hoping that the council will find some alternative accommodation but I'm so grateful to Deputy Toibin for stepping in and offering his offices in the meantime so that we can carry on with the hampers."

In a statement, the council said: "The Council cannot comment on matters in relation to individual tenancies. Tenancy agreements set out in detail the basis on which individuals can occupy a Council house and the conditions that they must comply with. In cases where the Council receives a complaint regarding possible breaches of a tenancy agreement, this is investigated by the Housing Department to establish if any breach has occurred and what follow up action may be required."