Food Parcels
In addition to our free-to-access, daily fresh food pantry, we also provide food parcels to individuals and families by referrals. These are provided to people referred to us by support workers, domestic violence support units, pastoral care offices at schools and other such organisations who come in contact with desperate situations.
Initially the food parcels were provided to families struggling as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. During the first lockdown, in May 2020, we started creating food parcels- each containing up to 25 meals to distribute through schools to the families they identified as vulnerable. The first round of food parcels were packed in a garden, on a motley assortment of tables, with the help of neighbours and distributed to 100 families through 2 schools.
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Before long, 100 families became 1000s and within a year we had provided over 1,000,000meals to 5,300+ families through 105 schools. Each family we took on, was supported fortnightly, consistently until the schools informed us that they no longer needed help. Two years after starting, we'd provided over 2,000, 000 meals. We then took a pause before restarting for referral cases
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What did your COVID 19 food bags contain?
It varied weekly but we provided staples such as cereal, pasta, tinned tomatoes, soup, pulses etc.
Where did the food come from?
We purchase in bulk at a discounted price from Fare Share.
Who did you deliver to?
We built relationships with schools who identify who they think needs support. There was no barrier to receiving a bag and no justification needed.
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Why have you paused it?
Buying 50+ tonnes a month required us to source at a discounted rate. The recent food shortage meant that we have not been able to find a source for this volume of food. Thankfully, we have been able to establish thriving fresh food pantries, entirely free to access with good quality fruit, vegetables, baked goods, daily, fish and meat products.
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Can I donate food items?
At present we don’t accept food donations simply because doing so will mean that one of us will have to quality check each item to be sure its not out of date- It would necessitate extra hours for someone to just quality check! Our volunteers are all working people and do this around their careers.
You can support us here. Thank you!
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Can you cover my school when you re-start?
Yes, just ask a member of staff from your school to get in touch with us to be added to the list.