Part 10 of our Continuing Adventures of Running a MultiBank during a pandemic. Weeks 52 - 62

In the last newsletter we talked about our plans for the long term and how the project can become financially stable over the next few years. Thank you to everyone who has started supporting us financially and to those who have continued to support us.
In the last month we have sadly seen our busiest sustained period of demand with record numbers of new people attending each week.
We have seen an extraordinary effort by our volunteers to keep pace with the extra workload. We have also been able to fully open MultiBank with all areas now working flat out. Rather than photos we have got some short videos to show you what it is like.
If you want to help us financially now then use this link or to find past newsletters and more information then head over to this page.

Here is one of amazing volunteers arriving with a late night food donation from a supermarket. We have a super fantastic group of volunteers perhaps you might be interested in joining them? You can read what several of our volunteers say about their experiences here , here and here .

Demand has increased since our last newsletter. We are now generally busier than even before Christmas. Numbers were higher at Christmas because we were giving out additional food parcels for children. You can access more in-depth data analysis here.
We have continued to receive fantastic support from M&S, Tesco, ASDA, Lidl through FareShare and Neighbourly organisations. A COOP store also supports us directly. Thank you also to the many individuals and local schools who have continued to support us. We are very grateful to our grant funders: National Lottery Community Fund, Doncaster Council Fight Back Fund, our Ward Councillors fund and South Yorkshire Community Fund.

When people enter they are first greeted at the reception desk and their details taken. People can then move on to the food and toiletries area and self select food items and ask for certain toiletries. Two volunteers supervise this area to ensure fairness and social distancing.
When you poor things we take for granted become difficult. You cannot afford to buy tins of food without a tin opener (the ring pull tins are much more expensive). You cannot use unsliced bread without a bread knife. You can use ceral with water but its better with milk.
This and the following video have been created in her own style by Jane Price.

So after food and toiletries people can access the clothes area. While in this area you can ask for bedding, underwear jeans and towels. We have three volunteers in this area to supervise.

I am always staggered at how much bedding and towels we need. There may seem a lot in this video but we will soon get through it.

So who uses all these items you may ask? When your life is in crisis and for whatever reason you have been re-homed whether by the council or in private accommodation then its not like moving house. You will often be restarting with nothing. So a single person moving off the streets into a bedsit needs bedding and clothes. Often there is a poorly equipped shared kitchen, so basic pots pans and cutlery from us helps. Boredom can be helped by books if you can read or a TV if we have one (there is always a waiting list). If you continue to get your life back together you may be able to get a flat. Again the kitchen will have very little. If you are a family in this situation - its adults and children that need clothes etc. A picture makes a drab room better. Some ornaments makes a room more homely.This really does help with peoples mental health which when life is in crisis takes a toll. This is just a fraction of the reasons why people need MultiBank.

We have to buy some food to top up the gaps in donations we receive from supermarkets and individuals.
We have thought carefully about what we need to buy and fine tuned our weekly list. We need to spend on average £350 per week which equates to £15000 per year. Now this does sound a lot of money but when you consider that this enables 12,200 visits to MultiBank and that on average most people leave with two bags of shopping, the cost per visit is only £1.23! This represents tremendous value for money.
So we are looking for 250 partners who will promise to donate £5 every month to support our work. Not only does this help feed many people but it also shows to grant making organisations the level of our local support. Will you be one of our Partners who will help us continue to support the weakest in society?

Click to become one of Partners

The above link takes you to the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS)

This is set up by the Church of England who will automatically reclaim Gift Aid for us free. The Account is called BLW Youth & Community Fund. BLW stands for Balby, Loversall & Wadworth because although based at Balby all three churches are involved with running Given Freely Freely Given. Also when not in a pandemic the project includes our free youth club on a Friday, hence youth is in the name. This helps us when we are applying for grants.
Donations can be made on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis by Direct Debit. Even though the donations are made to the PGS, donations are restricted to our community work and cannot be used elsewhere.

The donation will be passed back to us by 10th of the month. Gift Aid will be sent separately once PGS has received it from HMRC.