Welcome to the Southend Foodbank newsletter, keeping you up-to-date with what we're doing and how you can support us.
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6 years of Southend Foodbank
In November 2019, Southend Foodbank marks 6 years since it opened in 2013. Throughout November we’ll be reflecting on the last 6 years and the challenges we face as we begin our seventh year in Southend and Rochford. Check our social media accounts for more updates and stories from the foodbank, and join in our #6forSouthend campaign.
You can donate £6 for Southend Foodbank's first 6 years via Wonderful.org, Virgin GivingMoney, PayPal on ebay or direct bank transfer, with all the details on the Donate Money page on the Southend Foodbank website southend.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/ |
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Food update
Last month Southend Foodbank welcomed 237 guests and provided 3-days food for 657 people including 297 children. Not only is this the most people we have ever fed in one month, it is the single largest increase from one month to the next we’ve ever seen. The number of people, especially families with children, being referred to the foodbank is increasingly rapidly.
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Can you donate food this week?
These are the most urgently needed items:
- UHT milk, especially semi-skimmed
- Tinned potatoes
- Tinned meat pies
- Pasta sauce
- Tinned custard
- Long life sponge or puddings
- Tinned fruit
- Long life fruit juice
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Find your nearest drop-off point southend.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Why do you ask for that?
When we make food parcels, we aim for 3 days of nutritionally balanced meals and that means we need a mix of food types including tinned vegetables, fruit and puddings as well as main meals. Harvest donations have really helped to boost the amount of food we have but we’re still very low on a some items. People have given lots of pasta, which is great and we now have plenty of pasta, but we don’t have enough jars of pasta sauce to go with it. Last week we needed to buy UHT milk, to make sure there was enough for all the food boxes when there was a sharp increase in the number of people being referred to the foodbank. Even with very generous donations over the last few weeks of harvest we still need some items to see us through our busiest period.
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Information for people on low incomes
Check before you tick
If you need medication prescribed by NHS services, you can check whether you are entitled to free prescriptions with a quick online tool “Check before you tick”. At the end of check there is also advice for people on low income who are not eligible for free prescriptions but could be entitled to other kinds of help.
services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-for-help-paying-nhs-costs/start
Universal Credit Claim Commitments
The Public Law Project provides additional information for people on Universal Credit, explaining Claim Commitments, how these might be affected by childcare and how claim commitments might change if you experience domestic violence.
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Dates for your diary
Tesco collection 21st-23rd November
Southend Foodbank will be collecting food in Tesco, Prince Avenue for three days. We’ll be there handing out shopping lists and taking donations 9am-5pm Thursday 21st – Saturday 23rd. There are still a few spaces on the rota to stand at the front of the store, handing out shopping lists as people come in and big warm thank you’s as people give on their way out. If you have an hour or two to help, please contact admin@southend.foodbank.org.uk to sign-up.
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Squeeze!
Squeeze are currently on tour across the UK and at every stop on their tour they are supporting the local foodbank by hosting a pop-up collection at the venue. On Sunday 27th October, Squeeze came to the Cliffs Pavilion and we were there too. We collected £868 in cash and 47kg of food. The Squeeze team also sold EPs with profits going to the foodbank, delivered the food directly to us in the warehouse (pictured) and donated some merchandising, which we’ll be using to raise even more money - more on that soon. Thank you to Squeeze, their team and everyone who donated on Sunday night!
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Smilematic
If you shop with Amazon, you can make donations to your chosen charity without spending any more on your purchases. Amazon makes the donation on your behalf, up to the amount of a small percentage of what you spend but only if you purchase through Amazon Smile. Now there is an extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari users to make this easier.
Smilematic automatically redirects links that would normally go to Amazon to AmazonSmile. This ensures that your favourite charity is able to maximize their donations, without any hassle to you!
You can find Southend Foodbank on AmazonSmile or search 'Southend Foodbank' in the listed charities.
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Thank you!
The last of the harvest donations are coming in, so this is a good moment to say a BIG THANK YOU to all the schools, staff, students and parents who have given generously throughout the harvest season. Some schools who supported us last year haven’t been able to give harvest donations this year. We never take it for granted that schools or organisations will collect on our behalf and it is always amazing when we receive donations from across the community.
Thank you all:
Alleyn Court School, Bournemouth Park School, Chalkwell Hall Infant School, Chalkwell Hall Junior School, Daisy Chain Pre-school, Hamstel Infant School, Hamstel Junior School, Hockley Primary School, Kingsdown School, Leigh North Street Primary School, Milton Hall School, Olympus KeyMed Day Nursery, Prince Avenue School, Richmond Avenue Primary, Sacred Heart School, Temple Sutton Primary School, Thorpe Hall School, Watermans Primary School, West Leigh Junior School
and Kings Road Beavers.
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