It’s hard to imagine that, in what most people think of as an advanced society, there would be a need to provide food to people because they don’t have enough money to buy their own. Sadly there is – and it’s happening on the Isle of Wight.
Foodbank has been created to address this worrying problem and you’ll be happy to hear that its launch has been a great success.
The core of the Foodbank idea is to gather healthy food from members of the public and parcel them into packages that can feed people for three days.
Twenty five volunteers turned up at Waitrose last Saturday morning to answer shoppers’ questions on Foodbank and offer them a shopping list, if they wanted to contribute food to the Foodbank.
Interview with Hannah – Isle of Wight Foodbank
VB spoke to Hannah, who is heading up the Isle of Wight Foodbank (full interview below), and heard that over two tonnes of food had been donated on that single day – a remarkable collective act of generosity by the Island.
The shopping lists are especially compiled to ensure that balanced diets are created, to be given to those in the need of the three days of food.
Further generosity has been shown by lending the organisers a warehouse on an industrial estate in Cowes which is acting as the central collection point.
Distribution points around the Island are being formed in Cowes; Freshwater; Newport; Sandown and Ventnor, to ensure the food gets out to all corners of the Island.
Help out if you can
Plenty of people on the Island need help from Foodbank. It’s also possible that anyone reading (or writing) this could be hit by a turn of events and bad luck, taking them from what would be thought of as ‘normal’ living, to require help to feed themselves and their family.
Let’s all support them in any way we can – if you can help out, volunteering your time, or offering to provide food, just call Hannah on 07989 926276.
Interview with Hannah
Have a listen for yourself to the interview we did with Hannah – it’ll give you much more detail …
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/food-bank-interview-hannah.mp3]
After you’ve had a listen to what’s happening on the Island, you can find more details about Foodbank on the Trussell Trust site, or watch the video below, where actor Bill Nighy sets out to find out more about Foodbank.
