Last week the employees of Bank of America had a 5 day collection event for our Foodbank and collected an impressive 191 kilos of food and toiletries! While we were unloading their donation back at the warehouse we noticed that they had included a copy of Jack Monroe’s book of budget recipes. What an excellent and very thoughtful addition. Holding the banner are Emily, Emma and Rachel. Thank you to everyone who was involved and donated food.
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Monday, 21 July 2014
Proud Of Foodbank: Aggrieved It Is Needed
As
volunteers gathered together recently, we spent some time looking back and
celebrating what we, as a relatively young charity, have achieved together so
far.
We are
thankful first of all, for each other as volunteers. Foodbank is truly the
community helping the community and we celebrate all those involved. This
includes each of the volunteers meeting clients week by week and also the many
people involved whose faces you may not see because they are working diligently
behind the scenes; processing vouchers in the office, delivering food in the
van or sorting deliveries at our warehouse. There are also more than one
hundred people who host a collection box and many, many more who donate food.
We’re also thankful to each of the assessing agencies who give out vouchers. It
was good to be reminded of the huge number of people working together to help
local people who are in crisis and who need emergency food.
There is
truly much to be celebrated in how we have been able to respond to need, yet
still much to grieve over as we reflect that food poverty should not be a part
of anyone's life.
Friday, 18 July 2014
Supermarket Collection Honours!
We salute the hard work and commitment of the people who made the supermarket collections on Thursday 3rd, Friday 4th and Saturday 5th July 2014 such a success.
Our roll of honour is available here.
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Anna and Kate Raise A Staggering £270!
[Image: Anna Davies (left)
and Kate Duerden (right), presenting their donation to Mike Meynell,
Foodbank Trustee.]
A 13 year old from Chester , Anna Davies from Guilden Sutton,
listened to a presentation from West Cheshire Foodbank at her local church in
October 2013 and was so challenged and inspired by what she heard that she
decided to do something about it. She talked to her good friend, Kate Duerden
from Waverton, and they decided on a course of action.
Anna and Kate are doing their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award
and, for the volunteering section of their award, chose to raise funds for
their local Foodbank. Over a 3-month volunteering period they sold cakes
whenever and wherever they could. Kate even got her dad to take and sell some
at work! Anna and Kate have raised a staggering £270 for the Foodbank through
their cake sales and are very happy in the knowledge that their efforts will help
and support local people in crisis enduring food poverty.
Everyone at West Cheshire Foodbank would like to send a huge
“thank you” to Anna and Kate for all their hard work and dedication in raising
funds for the Foodbank. Very well done to both of you!
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Welcome to David, our New Trustee
We're delighted that David Stone has recently joined
the Board of Trustees at West Cheshire Foodbank with oversight of our finances.
David lives in Great Sutton with his wife, Lesley, and was employed as Group
Accountant by Wirral Borough Council until his retirement 12 months ago. As a
qualified accountant he brings valuable skills to the organisation and we're
thankful for his time and support.
Monday, 14 July 2014
Inspirational Generousity!
A couple of weeks ago we had an email from Rex, a student at
the University of Chester, He asked if we could collect a donation of food he
had purchased for us. Rex donated over 100 kilos of food to Foodbank
and repeated this the following week with 150 kilos more - with an
inspirational note included in each bag of food.
Rex was reluctant at first to have his picture taken with
his second donation as he wasn't seeking any sort of praise or
validation. We're delighted that he eventually agreed however because we
think what he has done is inspirational and we wanted to share that with you.
Friday, 4 July 2014
Supermarket Collections
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Luke's Story
"I am 62 years old; I spent the last 2 years in Spain, but the Spanish economy went into reverse and I had no choice but to return to the UK. This government passed a law on 01.01.2014 to make themselves look good by clamping down hard on immigration. I have been told I am not entitled to any benefits - JSA, ESA, Pension Credits - until I have been back in the UK for 3 months (i.e. 16/07/2014). There has been no offer of any financial help whatsoever interim. I have been surviving, just on food given to me at the Foodbank, and the charity meals from various Christian churches in the [local] area.
Without these charitable donations I would just have to go hungry! I am staying at [a local] hostel that operates a 'safe seat' policy - meaning I am entitled only to an upright armchair, not a bed, and I am not guaranteed that. I've spent some time on the streets as my 'safe seat' accommodation has been over subscribed! It is a horrible existence for a man of my age, and a true indictment of government policy."
We really appreciate the fact that Luke has shared his story with us. Thank you Luke.
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