This Easter, thanks to a £500 grant from the Asda Foundation, Fair Frome was able to provide lunches for around 100 local people during the school holidays.

Holiday periods can be some of the hardest times for families who rely on free school meals during term time. Without that safety net, the pressure on household food budgets can be significant, and for many families in Frome, the difference between a decent meal and going without can come down to whether support like this is available.

This grant meant it wasn’t a question. We’re enormously grateful to the Asda Foundation for their generosity and for recognising the importance of holiday food provision for local families.

If you’d like to support Fair Frome’s work, you can donate at any time via our donations page.

On Saturday 16 May, Victoria Park will come alive for Fair Frome Tribe – a free live music mini festival organized by Paul Kirtley, with all donations on the day going directly to Fair Frome.

The afternoon runs from 2pm to 6pm and headliners Cult of the Velvet Rattlesnake top a bill that also includes The Up Late All Stars, Bee and Paul, and more. Whether you’re a live music regular or just looking for a reason to get outside and enjoy a summer afternoon in Frome, this one is well worth putting in the diary.

Entry is completely free. If you’re able to, please do bring cash to donate on the day. Every pound raised goes towards supporting local people in need through Fair Frome’s food bank, community pantry, and other vital services.

We’re so grateful to Paul and all the artists giving their time to make this happen. See you in the park.

On Sunday 10 May, the Cheese and Grain will host a very special evening in celebration of the life of Phil Moakes, former Chair of the Cheese and Grain Board of Trustees, founder of Frome FM, and one of the most dedicated champions this community has ever had.

Phil passed away in 2025. His fingerprints are on so much of what makes Frome the place it is: he played a pivotal role in securing the long-term future of the Cheese and Grain during some of its most difficult years, launched Visual Radio Arts to support and platform hundreds of local artists, and served as a Somerset County Councillor with characteristic commitment to the people he represented.

The evening, titled Party at the End of the World, and organised alongside Phil’s family and friends, will feature a remarkable line-up: The Utopia Strong, Arch Garrison, Richard, Chantelle & Amy, Kavus Torabi, The Jolly Rotter, Hodmadoddery, and Sara Vian, hosted by Martin Dimery.

All funds raised on the night will be donated to Fair Frome.

We are deeply honoured. Phil believed in Frome’s people, and Fair Frome exists to support those same people when they need it most. That this event will raise money for our work feels like a fitting reflection of everything he stood for.

The evening begins at 4.30pm. Tickets are available from the Cheese and Grain.

Tickets can be purchased from the Cheese and Grain website here. 

Saturday 18 April, Frome’s much-loved independent record shop Raves from the Grave is opening its doors for Record Store Day 2026, and they’re using the occasion to do something really kind for local people in need.

Alongside the exclusive vinyl releases and the usual Record Store Day excitement, Raves from the Grave will be running a donation point for Fair Frome on the day. If you’re planning to head down, please bring something along if you can.

The items Fair Frome needs most right now:

• Jam
• Squash
• Microwave rice
• Tins of vegetables
• Long life milk
• Tins of ham
• Sauces for pasta
• Small jars of coffee
• Sugar
• Pasta snacks

Every donation makes a real difference to local families who are struggling. Even a single item helps us keep our shelves stocked and our food parcels full.

Record Store Day is one of the best days in Frome’s calendar, and we’re genuinely touched that Raves from the Grave has chosen to mark it by supporting their community. Thank you to the whole team at Raves, and thank you in advance to everyone who brings something along.

See you there!

As the Easter holidays approach, please note a few changes to our usual schedule so you can plan your visits accordingly.

• Good Friday (April 3rd) – Food Bank closed

• Easter Monday (April 6th) – Food Bank closed

• Easter Monday (April 6th) – Food at 5 will be open as normal

We’ll be back to our regular services following the Easter break.

This Easter, we’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of our local community. A huge thank you to Frome’s Nifty Knitters for once again donating their adorable handcrafted chicks — they bring so much joy every year! And a big thank you also to Frome Football Club for their wonderful donation of Easter eggs, ensuring families across Frome have an extra touch of sweetness this holiday.

From everyone at Fair Frome, we wish you a happy and peaceful Easter filled with kindness and community spirit.

Fair Frome is helping to share news of a new Easter Holiday Family Support Fund from Citizens Advice Somerset, offering supermarket vouchers to support families with food costs over the Easter break.

From Monday 23 March, families across Somerset whose children receive free school meals and who are struggling to afford food over the holidays can apply for £20 supermarket vouchers per eligible child. Applicants will need to provide evidence that their child is in receipt of free school meals and that the family is currently in food need. Full details of how to apply are available on the Citizens Advice Somerset website at https://citizensadvicesomerset.org.uk/ehfs/ 

If you live in Frome or the surrounding BA11 area and are worried about food, Fair Frome can also support you with emergency food parcels and fresh food vouchers through our Food Bank. Our parcels are tailored where possible to specific needs, and can include fresh produce, fruit and vegetable vouchers and items for babies and children. To access the Food Bank you will usually need a referral from a local agency such as your child’s school, Health Connections Mendip or Citizens Advice Somerset, but if you are unsure what to do please contact us at Fair Frome and we will try to help.

Families are encouraged to apply to the Easter Holiday Family Support Fund as soon as possible and to contact Fair Frome if they need additional support with food or other essentials during the school holidays.

We at Fair Frome want to hear from you. We are a dynamic and busy charity running a number of vital services for the most vulnerable people in our community, and we are looking for a financially literate Trustee to join our Trustee Board. All our Trustees are volunteers who share our enthusiasm for supporting the local community.

We want to appoint a new Trustee with the experience to help us manage our money, as well as take part in the wider work of the Trustee Board. The new Trustee will support a volunteer bookkeeper to keep our records up to date and will help staff and fellow Trustees to understand our finances now and into the future.

The time commitment is approximately one day a month, plus attendance at Trustee meetings around eight times a year. This is a great opportunity to use your skills to make a real difference to people’s lives in Frome.

To apply for the role, or to arrange an informal conversation about what’s involved, please email info@fairfrome.org.

A massive thank you to everyone at Frome Football Club – the team, players, staff, and supporters – for their fantastic generosity at the recent home game at Badgers Hill on Saturday, 14th February.

Together, you donated an incredible 136kg of food for the Fair Frome’s Food Bank, helping to support local individuals and families in need.

We’re so grateful for your continued support and community spirit – and a special thanks to Neil Mitchell and the team for organising the collection and helping us spread the word.

Fair Frome’s Director, Lenka Grimes with with Neil Mitchell and David Parry at Badgers Hill

We’re delighted to share some exciting news — our charity has been selected as one of three local causes supported by Waitrose Warminster’s Community Matters scheme this quarter!

When customers shop at Waitrose, they’ll receive a small green token to vote for one of the three chosen charities. The more tokens Fair Frome receives, the greater our share of the donation pot:

• 1st place charity: £1,500

• 2nd place charity: £1,000

• 3rd place charity: £500

Donations will be awarded in April 2026, so now’s the perfect time to pop into Waitrose Warminster and show your support.

Every token helps us continue our work supporting individuals and families who are struggling with the cost of living, housing pressures and other challenges in our area.

A huge thank-you to Waitrose and their wonderful customers for helping our community thrive — we can’t wait to see those green tokens stacking up!

Local charity Fair Frome has shared its annual figures for 2025, highlighting just how many people across Frome and the surrounding area have been supported during another challenging year. Many local residents are still struggling with rising food and energy bills, high rents and low wages, leaving more people needing practical and emotional support to get by.​

Throughout 2025, Fair Frome’s Food Bank gave out 422 individual food parcels and 615 family food parcels, ensuring people in crisis could access emergency food when they needed it most. The Community Pantry was accessed by 210 households, including 132 families and 78 individuals, helping stretch tight budgets further with affordable groceries.​

Fair Frome’s community food projects also made a major impact over the year. The Food at Five scheme provided 5,217 hot meals – sit‑down and takeaway – in three different areas of the town, as well as supporting YMCA residents and offering a warm, welcoming space. Holiday Lunches delivered 852 lunches across 28 sessions in school holidays, including a family Christmas party in partnership with Purple Elephant.​

Support went far beyond food. The Furniture Bank supported 120 households, repairing cookers and washing machines where possible, supplying 229 donated items, 65 donated electrical items and purchasing 30 white goods items, saving 6.7 tonnes from landfill at the same time. The Assistance Scheme supported 65 families with school uniforms, refurbished laptops, clothes and shoes, heated blankets, transport for appointments, carpets and other essential items, working alongside Frome Lions, Kevin Corcoran and Rotary to fund vital household goods. The Baby Basics Bank provided baby equipment such as cots and prams to 28 families.​

Alongside this, Fair Frome gave out 2,120 vouchers through the food bank for fresh fruit and vegetables from a local shop, over 150 Christmas food parcels, and 400 wrapped, personalised Christmas presents for children. The charity was also part of The Frome Christmas Get‑Together team, which provided around 200 meals and company on Christmas Day so that no one had to spend the day alone.​

Fair Frome’s support also includes welcoming spaces and specialist help. The charity has provided weekly shower and clothes‑washing facilities for people who are homeless or in temporary accommodation, and hosted housing advice drop‑ins, homeless and inclusion GP sessions, Citizens Advice sessions and digital inclusion drop‑ins. Staff and volunteers have also brought partners and referrers together to look at levels of need and coordinate practical support for those most affected.​

Throughout 2025, Fair Frome continued to campaign and raise a voice on issues related to local poverty, supporting national campaigns from the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), the Living Wage Foundation and The Equality Trust. Senior Co‑ordinator Lenka Grimes said that for many people in Frome the year has been extremely challenging, with many beneficiaries in work but still unable to make ends meet due to high housing costs and low wages, and emphasised that Fair Frome has provided both hands‑on practical support and emotional support to those arriving at their doors in crisis.