Individuals exploring a well-stocked food pantry, highlighting the importance of food access and support services.
Compiled by StormborneLore because I’ve known hunger, and I know the shame that shouldn’t be there.
🌾 Introduction
Food is a human right not a luxury. Yet across the UK, thousands face hunger daily, often quietly. I’ve lived in homeless hostels. I’ve relied on food banks. I’ve stretched oats and salt into meals and felt the sting of choosing between heating or eating.
This guide is for anyone facing food insecurity in the UK. You deserve help not judgment.
Below is a growing list of national and local services that offer free or low-cost food, groceries, and support. Please share, save, and if you know a resource not listed here, message me. I’ll add it.
🔹 IFAN – Independent Food Aid Network Connects users to independent (non-Trussell) food banks across the UK. 🌐 https://www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/
🔹 St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) Offers food, clothing, community outreach, and support services. 🌐 https://www.svp.org.uk/
📱 Tech That Helps
🔹 Olio App Connects people to surplus food shared by neighbours, businesses, and stores. 🌐 https://olioex.com/
🔹 Too Good To Go Rescue unsold meals from shops and cafés at discounted prices. 🌐 https://toogoodtogo.co.uk/
🏛️ Local Authority Help
🔹 Welfare Support Schemes Most UK councils offer emergency support including food vouchers or short-term grants. 🔍 Search “Your Local Council + Emergency Food Support” 💡 You can also contact Citizens Advice for local resources.
An artistic representation of a brain symbolizing mental health and support, reflecting themes of compassion and understanding.
💬 Mental Health Support if You’re Struggling
🧠 Mind UK Support for anxiety, depression, grief, and mental health struggles. 🌐 https://www.mind.org.uk/
Symbolizing justice and peace, two doves perch on a scale, representing the call for human rights.
Peace. Dignity. Equality. On a healthy planet.
These are not political demands. They are the foundational promises made to all of us through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948. These rights were written not in comfort, but in the shadow of war, genocide, and oppression.
They are rights meant to protect every person, everywhere.
And yet, in 2025, we still witness starvation, exile, bombardment, injustice, censorship, and fear.
I stand with the people of Palestine children trapped in rubble, civilians without food, and voices drowned out by politics.
I stand with the people of Ukraine, caught in a brutal war where cities are shelled and homes destroyed.
I stand with those fleeing anywhere Syria, Sudan, Yemen, the Rohingya for the right to be safe, housed, fed, and free.
I stand with people who are simply trying to survive.
What Are Human Rights? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with a simple truth:
*”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
This document was built to protect that truth. It includes rights such as:
The right to life, liberty, and security Freedom from torture, slavery, and arbitrary arrest The right to asylum and nationality Freedom of opinion, religion, and peaceful protest Access to food, housing, education, healthcare, and work These are not luxuries. They are the agreed foundations of justice and peace.
You don’t need to be perfect to deserve them. You don’t need to be powerful. You just need to be human.
A Personal Voice, Not a Political One I do not claim to have all the answers. But I know suffering when I see it.
I know that international law matters, and that it is being ignored.
I know that families are burying children they couldn’t save.
I know that food, water, and medicine are being denied.
And I know that staying silent feels like betrayal.
This platform, StormborneLore, blends myth and memory. But sometimes, reality bleeds through.
So let this be real.
Let it be clear:
I stand with Palestine I stand with Ukraine I stand with all people whose basic human rights are under attack No one should live in fear for existing.
No one should starve in silence.
No one should be forgotten.
Final Words Human rights are not a theory. They are a heartbeat.
Please read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Share it. Discuss it. Hold power accountable.
And if you’re struggling or afraid, know this:
YOU MATTER!
And there are still people who believe in your right to live, love, speak, and thrive.
In the world of StormborneLore, no soul goes hungry not under the watch of the wolves, the dragons, or the High Warlord of Caernath. In the real world, hunger still haunts far too many. This post is for my readers in the USA those who need food help right now. You are seen. You are worthy. And you are not alone.
🥝 1. National Aid Programs
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)Apply for grocery support if your household is low income. SNAP helps millions of Americans.🔗 https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap
WIC (Women, Infants, and Children Program)Support for pregnant women, new mothers, and children under five. Provides healthy foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support.🔗 https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read yesterday’s Authors Note.
just a warning : This is NOT EDITED in anyway so there will be spelling mistakes and grammar issues., structure issues.
Why am I doing this?
The reason I’m saying hello in English. German, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Welsh (I do apologise if I’ve spelt or wrote anything wrong)
The reason for it is those are the top countries in my stats for viewing my site.
THANK YOU
Thank you and USA youre number one. Thank you, and last night’s authors note had more likes than any other piece.
AI and Me
Well I’ve tried AI and still think even with all the errors. My writings probably better, than ai even though I use it to Polish my work it feels wrong.
Less human! Less capable of putting in what it takes to make the reader feel. SO after talking to my child who is a one of the biggest book nerds I’ve know. Someone who states don’t use AI they steal from other writers.
They are right but my stories are mine and double checked even triple checked not just through grammarly. But I also paste anything that I’m suspicious of direct into search engines manually check. If something worth doing it’s worth doing right !
The Plan Today
What’s on the plan today is easy 4 pieces.
This authors note
1 story – Three houses of Caernath part 7
1 poem – based on the eternal lords
1 article
1 recipe. Inspired by the bronze age
Where is my world based?
Someone asked me where are my stories / world based?
Worcestershire.
The House of Flame – Ignis.
Infact Emberhelm is based on the Malvern Hills and surrounding areas. Where I walked every weekend as a child and teen. An area stepped in history and folklore from Roman Britain to today.
Shropshire, Welsh marches and Staffordshire
The houses of Lore and Drax
Tempestas (house of storm) and Umbria (the house of shadow)
While Drax guards the marches with his armies of tempestas. Lore works his charms throughout his lands of Umbra. Taranis sits in the main house of Ignis. Soon to be joined by two others.
Again I spent hours walking not just around my village. But Cannock chase and Tettenhall woods, Walsall woods, cannock woods. I listened to historians, folklorists, read books on mythology, folklore, hauntings of the areas.
Other areas
I’ve walked Glastonbury Tor. (The hard way even ended up crawling at the top. But worth it and I proved to myself I can achieve the impossible. )
I’ve walked the long mynd (shropshire)where a village is said to have disappeared. The walks beautiful but not for those with mobility issues.
I’ve visited Wales (let’s face the truth at one point most of England was welsh). so when I include Welsh it more of a nod to ancestral heritage. My favourite place in Wales is Pembrokeshire.
Everywhere I go I’m learning not just the history but any folklore people are willing to share.
Growing up in Staffordshire gave me an opening to learn the Lore. Of not just my village but cannock chase and many other areas.
I was told “never put rough articles on your blog”. but when you don’t have funds for an editor for your articles where do you go?
Many indie writers told me once Grammarly but that’s ai isnt it? If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
I’m learning and slowly starting to use my own raw writing on this site.
Have a good day, and to those in war torn areas or going through tough times. blessing and positive thoughts go out to you.
From the first howl on the wind to the firelit feasts of Caernath, StormborneLore now stands tall a living archive of myth, memory, and meaning.
In these past 19 days, you’ve journeyed through:
✨ Poems of Spirit and reflections from wolves, dragons, outcasts, and gods 🔥 Tales of Hardship and Hope, stories born in darkness, rising toward the light 🍖 Feasts of the Ancients, recipes inspired by the meals of warriors, crones, and storm-born kings. ⚖️ Truths of Our Time articles echoing modern struggles: disability, injustice, survival, and healing
Each post is more than just a page — it’s a voice from the halls of Emberhelm.
“When all the world forgets us, we will still sing around the fire.” Taranis Stormborne
To every reader who’s wandered these halls, thank you. To every warrior, wolf, and flamekeeper yet to come welcome home.
StormborneLore Fiction forged in myth. Truth written in fire.
Rayne collapsed before the cairnfire, the thick iron collar still tight around his neck. Etched with the jagged insignia of the Black Claw. Solaris had rushed to his side. Morrigan gathered water from the well, whispering healing words she barely remembered. Lore cast protective wards. Boldolph paced, fuming, red eyes narrowed beneath a heavy brow.
“This is madness,” Boldolph snarled, watching the collar pulse faintly with some cursed sigil. “The boy’s half-starved, and that brand it reeks of shadow magic.”
“He’s not a boy anymore,” Drax muttered. “He’s seen things. Same as the rest of us.”
“No child should wear chains,” Solaris said, voice tight. “Not in Emberhelm.”
Lore knelt by Rayne’s side, laying fingers over the rusted iron. “It’s not just a collar. It’s a seal. A blood-binding rune carved into bone. They meant for him to die wearing it.”
“And yet he made it back,” Morrigan added, her hand resting gently on Rayne’s fevered brow. “That means something.”
Taranis hadn’t spoken since Rayne collapsed. He stood just outside the circle of firelight. Eyes locked on the far horizon where Black Claw lands stretched like bruises across the night. Pendragon shifted restlessly behind him, wings tight to his sides.
“They have Draven,” Rayne had rasped before falling unconscious. “They kept him… because of me.”
That had been enough.
Without another word, Taranis had mounted the black dragon and taken to the sky.
The wind screamed around him, colder than it should have been for summer. Taranis kept low over the ridges, scanning the burned-out lands for signs of encampments. Black Claw banners once flew here clawed glyphs torn into hides, marked with bone. Now, they hid in the ruins, like maggots beneath ash.
Pendragon dove suddenly, a cry bursting from his throat.
There a ridge of slate carved into makeshift battlements. A fortress not meant to keep armies out, but prisoners in.
Taranis landed hard, blade drawn before his boots touched the ground. He didn’t speak. He didn’t call out.
He moved.
Two guards fell before they could scream lightning dancing along the edges of his blade. A third tried to flee. Pendragon caught him mid-run and dropped him without effort.
Taranis moved through the ruined keep like a storm incarnate silent, swift, merciless. These were slavers, torturers, the kind who’d once held him in chains. He knew every sound of their cruelty.
He’d been trained in their darkness. Now he wielded it against them.
In the lower chamber, he found Draven.
Naked but for rags, wrists chained above his head, bruises blooming along his ribs. He lifted his face at the sound of boots.
“Taranis?” he croaked.
“I’m here,” his brother said.
“You came back…”
“I always come back.”
Taranis cut the chains in two strokes, catching his brother as he fell.
“Can you walk?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll carry you.”
He slung Draven over his shoulder and stormed out as the keep burned behind him.
Not once did he look back.
By the time Taranis returned to Emberhelm, Rayne was awake.
Solaris had removed the collar with Lore’s help shattering it against a carved cairnstone. It took three days of chanting, and a night of fire that refused to go out. Boldolph had offered to chew the thing apart. Morrigan declined the offer.
Rayne sat in the healing hall, bandaged and trembling. When Taranis entered carrying Draven, the boy’s face crumpled.
“You got him.”
“I said I would.”
Morrigan rushed forward. “Lay him here.”
Taranis set Draven down gently. Lore began his work, murmuring ancient words. Solaris lit the fire with a whispered flame. Rayne crawled forward and took his brother’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” Rayne whispered. “I told them everything. They used me. And I still couldn’t save him.”
“You survived,” Taranis said. “That was enough.”
Drax entered moments later, axe slung over his back.
“You went alone.”
“I didn’t need an army.”
“You’re lucky I like you, brother.”
Boldolph huffed from the doorway. “I told you not to go alone. Next time, I’m riding the dragon.”
Pendragon let out a soft growl as if agreeing.
“Next time,” Taranis said, “there won’t be a need.”
That night, they gathered in the Hall of Storms. The Three Houses stood beneath banners newly hung. The thunder-mark of Tempestras, the flame glyph of Ignis, and the silver eclipse of Umbra.
Rayne, still weak but standing, stepped forward.
“I was taken when I followed a shadow beyond the border. They said my blood would buy silence. But my silence almost cost a life.”
Taranis laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“It is not your shame to carry.”
“No,” Rayne said, looking around, “but I want to stay. I want to fight. I want to belong.”
Lore smiled. “Then choose your house.”
Rayne hesitated.
Then: “House of the Shadow.”
Umbra’s banner unfurled behind him.
Draven, barely upright, spoke next.
“I never stopped believing we’d meet again. Even when they broke my ribs and chained my hands. I clung to the howl of a wolf I couldn’t see. I thought it was memory. Now I know it was Boldolph.”
The great wolf-man stepped forward, placing a fist over his chest.
“You’re one of us.”
Draven smiled through broken teeth. “Then I choose House of the Storm.”
The warriors roared their approval.
Taranis turned to Solaris.
“We’ve brought them back. But we’re not finished, are we?”
“No,” Solaris replied. “Not until all chains are broken.”
Boldolph grunted. “I say we raise a hunt. Take out the last Black Claw den.”
Drax cracked his knuckles. “Been waiting for that.”
Lore added quietly, “We’ll need more than swords. The blood magic they used—it’s older than the cairnstones.”
Taranis nodded.
“Then we rebuild. We teach. We prepare.”
He turned to face the assembled tribes.
“The era of exile is over. The age of the Stormborne rises.”
And above them, Pendragon howled not in anger.
But in unity.
Later, as the fires dimmed, Boldolph stood outside the gates, leaning on his axe like a watchful father. Morrigan brought him stew.
“You stayed.”
“I always stay.”
“Still think about eating Taranis?”
“Not lately.”
They laughed quietly.
“Do you think they’ll ever stop fearing him?” Morrigan asked.
“No,” Boldolph said. “But that’s not what matters.”
The screams echoed off the stone walls of Emberhelm like the wind of old gods mourning. They weren’t screams of pain, but of release centuries of silence and curse unraveling into the night.
Morrigan collapsed first, the white fur shedding in great clouds that shimmered like frost. Her limbs twisted, reshaped. Bones cracked. Light laced through her as though fire ran in her veins.
When it was over, she knelt there, naked and human once more. Tall, slim, freckled, her long red hair cascading down her shoulders like the sun had kissed her into being.
Lore, standing nearby with his hands still outstretched from the spell, stumbled back, exhausted. His voice trembled.
“It is done.”
Boldolph did not scream.
He roared.
A roar that turned the blood of every warrior in Emberhelm cold. His black fur thickened, but did not fall away. His body bulged with new strength arms growing longer, spine broadening, but the wolf did not vanish. Instead, the man stepped ahead from the beast, and what remained was both.
A wolf-man. A warrior unlike any other.
Lore turned to his brothers. “Boldolph chose this. A warrior’s form. His path remains in the hunt, not the hearth.”
Taranis watched, silent, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Morrigan, now fully clothed in a borrowed shawl, stepped across the courtyard to a waiting man her husband. They embraced without fear.
“She’s still loved,” Taranis muttered, half to himself.
Lore heard him anyway. “And no one fears them now. Not like they did you.”
Taranis smirked, eyes glinting. “If she wasn’t married, I’d have made her mine.”
“Careful,” Drax chuckled from behind, sharpening his axe on the stone steps. “You’re a warlord, not a poet.”
Taranis turned, expression softer now. “He screamed, you know. Our father. The night I was exiled.”
Lore nodded. “He didn’t know what to do. But he regretted not letting you stay. Mother wept for months. Still wore your wolf bone pendant long after we buried it in the cairn.”
“Did they know I was alive?”
“They did.” Lore crouched, drawing a symbol in the dirt. “Boldolph kept them informed. Something about the tribe’s elder being the only one who can hear his thoughts. Said our ancestor lived in you.”
Taranis gave a dry laugh. “Our ancestor, eh? Boldolph told me that too. Great-grandfather five times back, wasn’t it?”
Drax’s voice cut in. “Father called to Boldolph when you were exiled. Said the storm had swallowed you whole. What happened out there?”
Taranis exhaled, jaw tight.
“Adventure. Hunger. Despair. I was nearly dead when Solaris’s father found me, just beyond Blackclaw territory. They took me in. His father made me a slave, heavy work for little return. I treated his son in exchange for scraps. But Solaris he remembered me. He saw more than a starving boy.”
Lore rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“You survived.”
“I endured,” Taranis corrected.
He stepped ahead and raised his voice so all gathered hear.
“Boldolph. Morrigan. Solaris. You are free now. The chains of old curses, of blood debts, and oaths not chosen gone. But I ask you this…”
He paused, turning slowly.
“Will you stay?”
The fire pits roared to life, casting flickering gold over the three freed souls. Solaris stood tall, still bearing the ash-mark of Flamekeeper. Morrigan leaned into her husband’s side, eyes scanning the faces around her. Boldolph’s red eyes flared, unreadable.
Taranis continued, “There are three houses in Caernath now. The House of the Storm — for warriors and defenders. The House of the Flame for healers, lorekeepers, and seers. And the House of the Shadow for scouts, spies, and those who walk the forgotten paths. Each of you has earned a place, should you wish it.”
He looked to them, one by one.
“If you leave, so be it. With my blessing. With food. With horses so the fair lady no longer walks barefoot through bramble. know this: your path and mine will cross again. Whether as friend or foe… that remains to
A few chuckled.
“But if you stay…” he added, softer now. “then the food is yours to share, we shall ride and fight together as brothers and sisters.”
Lore stood beside him, arms folded. “Three houses. Three choices.”
Drax, ever the blunt one, added, “But don’t take too long to decide. Winter’s hunting season comes fast.”
Silence.
Then Solaris stepped ahead.
“I will stay.”
His voice was calm, like embers beneath ash.
“But not as a servant. As a Flamekeeper. As a free man.”
Taranis nodded once. “Then take your place in the House of the Ignis”
Boldolph came next, stepping ahead with thunder in his stride. His beast-form loomed, but he knelt low before Taranis.
“I stay,” he growled. “But not as man. Not as beast. As both. I fight with you. For Stormborne.”
Taranis placed a hand on the wolf-man’s brow. “House of the Tempestas then.”
Morrigan stepped ahead last. The crowd held their breath.
“I have known healing. And fury. And grief. But I choose to give life now, not chase vengeance. I will stay… as a healer.”
Lore smiled.
“House of Umbra welcomes you.”
The wind picked up. Overhead, Pendragon flew a wide arc above the fort, and the sky shivered with promise.
Taranis raised his voice once more.
“The Houses are chosen. The bonds are made. The future begins now forged in flame, bound by oath, tempered by storm.”
And far below, in the silent stones of Emberhelm, the echoes of curses past gave way to something new.
A howl not of sorrow.
But of belonging as a mysterious stranger approached.
“I know to well how brothers can turn on each other ” a voice behind them said one they vafukey recognised
Drax arched a brow “rayne? Little brother is that you? We thought you lost?”
Rayne Nodded a thick iron coller around his neck with black claw marking in
“Who did this ” Tanaris whistles for Pendragon as his brother collapsed through torture and starvation
“Black Claw they still have Draven”
“I going to wipe that clan out ” Tanaris said
“NO YOUNG ONE NOT ALONE” boldolph said
“Morrigan he’s doing it again can I eat him or Pendragon” Boldolph said seeing the young one Tanaris flying towards enemy land as if to rescue another brother
Morrigan looked over “he will return now Rayne”. she ordered as Solaris prepared food and she gathered healing herbs.
post script
Which House Do You Belong To? In the lands of Caernath, every soul has a path.
Do you crave thunder and battle like Boldolph? You belong to House Tempestras the warriors.
Do you heal with fire and memory like Solaris and Morrigan? House Ignis calls you the keepers of lore and flame.
Do you move in shadow, unseen yet ever watchful? Then step into House Umbra where secrets become power.
🧭 Tell us in the comments: Which house would you choose and why? Feel free to share this post and invite others to find their stormbound path.
Support the creative journey of StormborneLore through shares, likes, and engagement.
StormborneLore is a personal, creative project not a business. It was born from my love of myth, history, and storytelling… and it gives me a way to express myself despite the challenges I face day to day.
I live with disabilities. I currently receive PIP and LCWRA, which help cover my basic needs. I don’t make any money from this site nor do I expect to in the immediate future.
But what I do get… is purpose.
Creating these stories, poems, and legends takes time, effort, research, and heart. And the best way you can support me right now isn’t with money it’s with likes, shares, comments, and follows.
A hand giving a thumbs up next to a laptop displaying a fantasy landscape with a dragon and a castle, emphasizing the importance of engagement in creative projects.
🕯️ Every Click Makes a Difference Your engagement whether that’s a like on a post, a follow, or simply sharing my work with others helps me see that what I’m doing matters. It shows me someone is reading. That this world I’m building is seen.
So if you’ve ever:
Liked a story or poem
Shared a link with a friend
Left a comment
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…just know: you’ve already supported me more than you realise.
Looking Ahead: Plans for future support options to enhance StormborneLore.
🔮 Looking Ahead I may eventually add a small donation button (like Buy Me a Coffee) to help with
Site and hosting costs
Basic tools like a printer or laptop
Saving for long-term essentials (not luxury just stability)
If or when that happens, I’ll be completely transparent and I’ll always keep the content free and accessible to all.
A heartfelt message from the creator of StormborneLore, expressing the importance of writing and community support.
✍️ Why This Matters StormborneLore is my way of contributing something real. I can’t always work in the traditional sense. But I can create. I can write. And with your help, I can keep going.Thank you for reading. Thank you for being here.
Title: Lord Commander of the Stormborne Realm: Shadowmere, Bronze Age frontier of rivers and stone Brother to: High Warlord Taranis and Lore, the Flamebearer
Character Bio:
Drax Stormborne is the iron heart of the Stormborne resistance a battle-scarred warrior whose silence weighs more than words.
Where Taranis commands with the fury of the storm and Lore with the wisdom of the ancients. Drax rules the battlefield with unwavering precision and primal force.
Raised in the shadow of his brother’s exile, Drax carved his loyalty in blood and fire. When the Clawclan advanced on the borders of Caernath. It was Drax who held the line, forging discipline into the ragged ranks of Stormborne fighters.
His realm, Shadowmere, is wild and watchful a land of rivers, woods, and ancient circles. where warriors learn to move like ghosts and strike like thunder.
Clad in furs and iron, adorned with war tattoos and scars that speak of countless battles. Drax is a living symbol of Stormborne resolve. Though his voice is rare, his presence speaks volumes protector, strategist, brother. His loyalty to Taranis is absolute, and his trust in Lore is forged through fire.
Some call him the Wolf of Shadowmere. Others, the Axe of Emberhelm. All know one truth: Drax does not retreat.
StormborneLore 