Many thanks to Sarah for this update from the weekend’s foodbank collections. Ed
Isle of Wight foodbank would like to let you know about the amazing weekend of double food donation collections that were held Saturday and Sunday in two major supermarkets here on the Island. We are always astounded at the generosity of the good people of the Isle of Wight and last weekend was no exception.
‘Feed People in Need’
Tesco Extra in Ryde was part of their national campaign to ‘Feed People in Need’ that was rolled out across the whole of the UK this weekend collecting food donations for Isle of Wight foodbank. All food donated will go to Islanders.
Nearly one tonne of food was donated. One Tonne! That’s 120 large crates of food all going to help feed people in crisis here on the Island over the coming weeks. Astounding.
Volunteers from Tesco’s Retired Staff Association alongside our volunteers ran this amazing food drive. Tesco’s shoppers came along and gave generously to help local people in crisis. Tesco have pledged to top up donations by 30%.
Tesco have also donated a large amount of brand new school clothing to us for our nearly new clothes shop and sales.
And there’s more
Waitrose, East Cowes also held a food donation collection last Saturday and Sunday – food donated amounted to a massive 773.50 kg of food!
Volunteers from Waitrose worked alongside our volunteers to collect food donations from their warm hearted shoppers to help local people in crisis. In addition the customers of Waitrose in East Cowes have selected Isle of Wight foodbank as a Community Matters cause to benefit from a very generous share of £1,000! Thank you.
Isle of Wight foodbank is self sustaining, so we always appreciate monetary and textile donations, sponsorship etc. We are so very grateful.
What happens to the food donations next?
Volunteers sort and pack the food at our warehouse which is distributed to our seven distribution centres Island wide.
Frontline care professionals such as doctors and social workers give foodbank vouchers to people in crisis.
Foodbank vouchers are exchanged for three days worth of food at a food bank.
No food and no money = crisis
Today on the Isle of Wight there are families struggling to put food on the table. For people on low incomes, a sudden crisis can mean going hungry.
foodbanks help to prevent family breakdown, housing loss, crime and mental health problems. We also take time to listen and signpost people to further support.
“The current economic climate means more and more people are struggling to put food on the table, so we really need the local community to give what they can to help” says Hannah King, foodbank manager. “It’s not just people on low incomes who are feeling the pinch at the moment, benefit changes, increased redundancy, fewer jobs and rising prices are having a real impact on local people and we’re seeing more people turning to the foodbank for help.”
The Trussell Trust’s network of foodbanks aims to help people through short term crisis situations by providing them with three days’ worth of emergency food and signposting them to further support to help combat the long term problem.
