Three "amazing" volunteers at a community store dedicated to tackling food poverty in Lewisham have been named the new mayoresses of the borough.

Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christine Norman will be formally recognized in their new titles at Lewisham Council's AGM next week.

The trio all work as volunteers at the Evelyn Community Store and were awarded the title in recognition of their work to help residents get access to cheaper food.

The community store has been open for over a year and, under the leadership of the dynamic trio, has supported over one hundred families on low incomes to purchase food at a low cost.

Its success has been extremely timely with the advent of the (ongoing) coronavirus pandemic that has seen a massive increase in the number of people in the UK seeking food from foodbanks and community stores like Evelyn.

"This is something that we will embrace and it’s nice that we’re doing it as a trio and not solo because there’s always safety in numbers and many hands make light work!" Natasha said.

"We already engage with our members about different issues they’re having so I think for us now it’s about creating that stamp around what we’re doing with food poverty."

Volunteers at the store work with FareShare, a nationwide charity that has been helping to re-distribute food since 1994.

The food that they collect is surplus and despite being in-date and of great quality, would otherwise go to waste.

It's available to lower income residents throughout Lewisham.

Members sign up to the store and pay £3.50 per week for food that they collect and make huge savings that can help alleviate the financial burden they are under.

Items available include fresh fruit and veg, frozen foods, tinned food, meats and toiletries.

"This year has been the Year of the Volunteer and Natasha, Dawn and Christine are a trio of inspiring women who have helped make sure 100s of families and vulnerable people have had food during lockdown," Current Mayor Damien Egan said.

"As a borough Lewisham has responded well to the challenges presented by coronavirus but we have only been able to do that because of all the amazing volunteers who are helping us."