With one Isle of Wight foodbank seeing a 160 per cent rise in requests, co-operative members have helped to make a difference to the community by raising more than £75,000 to help food banks and those who rely on their services.
How the money was raised
More than £48,000 was raised by customers swiping their membership cards as Southern Co-op has pledged to donate 2p to the pot per qualifying transaction.
Through the co-operative’s Share of the Profits scheme 2021/2022, a further £22,570 was donated by members. Colleagues donated the remaining funds from a one-off support payment.
Pan Together
One of the foodbanks to benefit is Pan Together which exists to support and provide a community hub for the residents of East Newport, which includes the Isle of Wight’s most disadvantaged area, ranked at 5.8 per cent in England’s most deprived.
Rachel Thomson, Community Centre Manager, said,
“Many people in our local area face multiple challenges and are amongst society’s most vulnerable and marginalised, including the shocking 35 per cent of children who are growing up in poverty, against an England average of 17 per cent.
“Having identified the growing need in Autumn 2021, our community support and anti-poverty services are (sadly) increasingly essential to local residents. No one should face going hungry and the tough economic times are biting hard.
“One mum told us, ‘I’ve never asked for help before as I find it extremely embarrassing but I was getting so desperate I actually thought about stealing food to feed my kids’.
“We’ve seen a shocking 160 per cent increase in requests for food-related support in the period from July to the end of September 2022 compared to requests from October 2021 to June 2022. Sadly, demand is increasing monumentally – and demand is probably greatest from working families.”
The other foodbank on the Isle of Wight supported with donation points at The Co-operative Food stores is Isle of Wight – Trussell Trust.
Goods donated to foodbanks
Between February and December last year, 17,566kgs of goods were donated to foodbanks by customers and members.
In December £40,000 worth of gift cards were also shared by Southern Co-op to food banks across the south to help families and individuals affected by the cost-of-living increases.
Bramble: Every tin of food makes a difference
Holly Bramble, Southern Co-op’s Community Lead, said,
“It makes me incredibly proud when I see how much money and food our customers have enabled us to donate to foodbanks. One food bank we spoke to reiterated that every tin of food makes a difference and I have seen this first-hand.
“We know times are tough and many foodbanks have seen donations drop whilst demand increases. So we want to encourage our customers to keep swiping their membership cards but we’d also like to thank all of the people behind the scenes at these foodbanks who make the impossible possible. Thank you.”
Ukraine Humanitarian appeal
Members of Southern Co-op, which is a regional, independent co-operative, have also made it possible for more than £26,000 to be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian appeal.
This was from Southern Co-op’s Share of the Profits scheme, and Southern Co-op donations based on the number of members attending the AGM and voting in the Board Election.
To find out more about becoming a Southern Co-op member, visit the Website.
News shared by Felicity on behalf of Southern Coop. Ed
