A NEWPORT man, who sells scrap metal he has fished from canals to pay for food to donate to food banks, is creating a system with the aim to help end food hunger in the city.
Darren Rice said: “I have been donating for food banks for years. I now want to create a space where food banks can coordinate between themselves.”
Mr Rice is also a litter-picker and magnet fisher – where he uses a magnet to clean up canals. He sells the scrap metal he fishes to pay for the food he donates to the food banks.
Mr Rice is an important community figure in Newport. He is from Bettws in north Newport but his work has spread across the city.
His latest initiative is the coordination of food banks across Newport. His Facebook page for the plan is called ‘Helping to Support Food Banks across Newport’.
He was inspired to create the group because he thinks there needs to be a space for people to post about supplies and details about where food banks are.
“People do not know where food banks are. Sometimes even the users do not know where they are,” said Mr Rice.
Mr Rice said he is asked a lot by people information about food banks because a lot of people know that he donates to them.
He realised the reason they asked him was because there is not somewhere with all the information in one place.
(Image: Darren Rice) Mr Rice sells scrap metal he has fished from canals to pay for food to donate to food banks.
His ultimate ambition is to help the people who need it the most in Newport and to him the rise in the number of people having to use food banks is “unbelievable”.
“In this day and age why are there food banks in schools?” said Mr Rice.
Mr Rice said there is a gap in knowledge surrounding food banks in the public and he hopes that his new community can help.
He is an experienced community leader.
He is the founder of the volunteer Newport Canal and Litter Picking Group.
In his community work as a volunteer he said he has fished up guns, knives and shotgun shells from Newport Canal – all of which he swiftly handing in to the police.