Foodbanks have become a fact of life in the UK and although most of us who work in them, would rather they were not required, we are acutely aware that for the time being they are needed and those who receive help from us are grateful for the help of the organisation and the surrounding community at a time when they are in most need.
We have been really fortunate this year and managed to raise considerable funds to purchase food for the Foodbank, however providing over 4,500 meals a week to 80 households, soon uses up the funds. Our food parcels contain enough food for seven days and include the tinned meat, fish, vegetables, tomatoes, baked beans, soup, fruit, custard and rice pudding along with pasta, pasta sauce, tea, coffee, milk, cereal and sugar. In addition there are fresh potatoes, vegetables (seasonal), fruit, butter, cheese, bread and frozen items. Our aim is to ensure that individuals and families can enjoy healthy meals, despite the circumstances they find themselves in. This level of provision does cost and with a weekly shopping bill coming in at around £1,500 the funds we have are quickly used up. So, we need your help in keeping our tinned and other longlife items topped up. Maybe you could buy an extra something when you are shopping, or perhaps you could encourage your street to see what they can collect or maybe where you work. We have boxes that can be collected from 1 Sherwood Road, that businesses and other groups can use to collect food and leaflets with the boxes that tell you a bit more about who we are and what we do. If you don’t feel you have time to drop in items to us or arrange community collections, then you can always drop items off at Morrisons Rubery or Bromsgrove, or if you would rather donate money, then we are always able to use that to help us with our food bills.
But once we have the food we need people to join our team of volunteers to help make up the food parcels. As I sit typing this, someone has come in to collect their food parcel and another six are either waiting to be collected or have already been in. So, if you are interested in volunteering then please get in touch on info@newstarts.org.uk and we can book you in for one of our information and induction sessions.
If you have any other ideas how you might help then please feel free to get in touch admin@newstarts.org.uk
