An award winning farmers' market held every Thursday at St Giles Church, Shipbourne, is continuing with support from the church, as a new 'Drive Thru' version.
Relocated to the common in front of the village hall, customers pre-order through the web site. Local stallholders assemble the orders safely, drop them off early in the morning for a number of volunteers to sort, ready for customers to collect.
Customers have been given timed collections between 9am and 11am, and told to stay in their cars with their order numbers and names displayed in the windscreen.
Volunteers then pick the orders and load the produce into the cars.Customers unable to go out had their orders delivered by volunteers.
Rev Dr Peter Hayler, Rector of Shipbourne said:
"It’s really humbling to witness the huge efforts put in by our Farmers’ Market to transform the way the market works in order that it can keep going despite the lock-down of the church and the other important restrictions during the Covid19 outbreak.
"The market can no longer use the social hub we know and love, but the team are determined to help the small businesses and producers to survive economically, to continue to provide good food to the locality, and to remain engaged of the heart of the local community."
He continued, that it calls to mind 2 Corinthians 4:8-10: '
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.'
Some 120 orders have been processed of fruit, vegetables, meat, game, fish, cheese, coffee, bread, cakes and sanitiser have been processed so far. All the produce is loaclly sourced and made.