A TAUNTON couple set aside wedding presents and instead urged guests to make a donation to the foodbank.

Michele and Matthew Ambrose were married on May 25 at Huntstile Organic Farm.

But instead of registering for a new toaster or blender, the pair decided to put their big day to good use.

Guests were asked to make a donation to Taunton Foodbank, which resulted in 32.5kg of food now available to help people in need.

Michele is no stranger to charity, and helps out whenever she can through her job at Musgrove Park Hospital.

The newly wed said: “I work in the catheter laboratories, within the cardiology department of Musgrove where I’m a trainee nursing associate.

“I’ve worked there for 5 years, previously as a senior health care assistance, where part of my role is to be the link nurse for diabetes and nutrition.

“As part of that role I annually organise a collection in November for advent calendars and then one on December for their usual items from the list on their website, and also more luxury food items to go into hampers.

“These collections have been donated to Arc and Taunton Foodbank.”

Mrs Ambrose says her knowledge of nutrition urges her on to ensure no one struggles to get the food they need in their time of need.

She added: “My understanding of nutrition and health means I know what a detrimental impact being malnourished can cause, not just short term but long term too, which is why I feel it is so important to help support local families who are struggling.

“My job is secure but Matthew is self-employed, he owns Nostalgia Cars UK Ltd in Creech St Michael and currently business is going well, but you just never know what is around the corner.

“At any moment either one of us may need to give up work and find ourselves on Universal Credits with a 5 week wait, not knowing where our next meal will come from or how we will keep a roof over our heads.”

The happy couple have five children between them, and say they already have ‘everything they need’ as a family - so asking for donations was an easy decision to make.

Mrs Ambrose added: “We are very lucky that there are wonderful places of support such as Taunton Food Bank should we ever find ourselves needing it.

“We decided to collect at the wedding as it is a day of pure indulgence, endless food and drink, lavish gifts, and fancy clothes, where others in the same town may have empty cupboards.

“We may not have everything we want but we have each other and everything that we need as a family, for us, collecting for the food bank was an obvious choice and I hope that we can inspire others to do the same.”

Another quirky idea which raised donations for the foodbank came from Claire Meredith.

This year, instead of gifts, Claire, who has been raising money for the foodbank for years by selling handmade Christmas cards, asked her friends to buy her a ‘virtual drink’, and then put the money to good use.

She said: “I wanted to do something a bit different and came up with the idea of inviting all my friends to a virtual night at the pub.

“They could make a donation to the fundraiser for the Foodbank in lieu of ‘buying’ me a drink or a packet of crisps.

“It worked a treat. I managed to raise £212 and was so touched that my friends wanted help with a cause close to my heart.

“I absolutely hate that so many more people have to turn to the Foodbank just to put food on the table these days.

“I’m really pleased that my fundraiser will go a little way to help local people in need.”

Taunton Foodbank says it welcomes the ‘out of the box’ ideas, but regrets so many people need to rely on foodbanks.

Sue Weightman, manager of Taunton Foodbank, said: “We at the foodbank are always grateful to the community at large for their continuing support of our vital service whilst recognising that it is regrettable that so many people are still in need of our Foodbanks.

“Michele, Matthew and Claire were inspired in their approach to fund raising and we are delighted to have been the recipient of their generosity. We are always open to new ideas for fund raising and this is certainly thinking ‘outside the box’."