The Allan Labor Government is bolstering food relief services in Central Victoria to make sure healthy food reaches Victorians in need.

Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards recently attended the official opening of the new Bendigo Foodshare warehouse in Golden Square today, supporting food relief for locals and delivering a bigger and better warehouse for Bendigo Foodshare.

The Labor Government contributed $1 million to the facility which has tripled the storage space available to the Bendigo Foodshare.

“We are continuing to support Bendigo Foodshare to make sure the Bendigo community and locals across Central Victoria have access to the food relief they need,” Ms Edwards said.

Bendigo Foodshare can now use the larger space for its important work, supplying food sourced through rescue, donation and purchase to local organisations providing food relief to people across Central Victoria.

The local Foodshare estimates it sourced more than 800,000 kilograms of food in the last financial year and provides food for nearly 13,000 people each week.

Located just two kilometres from Bendigo’s city centre, the new location is easily accessible by car or public transport, for the dedicated staff and more than 300 volunteers who support operations.

The Government also recently announced further funding for the Bendigo Foodshare with its investment of $1.5 million to support the state’s six regional food hubs and the Regional Food Security Alliance.

Since 2020, the Labor Government has invested more than $56 million to strengthen the food relief system in Victoria including support for the six regional hubs. On top of this, $10 million has been provided to Foodbank for food relief hubs in Morwell and Ballarat.