How we've helped foodbanks meet need

A community foodbank in one of our operational areas was able to provide Christmas hampers for families following a donation from our Community Investment Team.

The Boulton St Mary’s Foodbank in Derby was one of six organisations to receive a £1,000 contribution from the team to help support those in need in the run-up to Christmas.

Each of our Community Investment Leads carried out extensive research into the economy, deprivation and infrastructure in their areas. They then selected foodbanks they wished to support in areas where our customers were likely to benefit most.

The foodbanks chosen alongside Boulton St Mary’s were The Black Country Foodbank, Peterborough Foodbank, Rushden Foodbank, We Are One Foundation in Grimsby and Boston Foodbank.

Volunteers at Boulton St Mary’s Foodbank contacted us to thank us for our support and show what they’d been able to put together.

Maurice Hegarty, Community Investment Lead for the West, said: “I’m absolutely over the moon with what’s been achieved.

When foodbanks tell us that our support has enabled them to deliver more aid to more people – especially during the pandemic and during Christmas – it really fills us with pride.

“Even prior to the pandemic, the number of families and individuals using foodbanks had been on the rise. Economic hardship isn’t isolated to any one group of people and many of our customers find themselves unexpectedly affected. Often, in this situation, it’s the children that suffer the most.

“All of us in the Community Investment Team are proud to see what the foodbanks have been able to do with our contributions and we look forward to working closely with them moving forward.”

Denise Garton, from Boulton St Mary’s Foodbank, said our support had been a significant help.

The donation enabled us to continue to support the individuals and families that needed it into the new year as we anticipated that the need for foodbank provision would continue at a similar level and could quite possibly increase.”

We’ve also received grateful thanks from the other foodbanks we’ve supported, saying the donations will help them continue to support vulnerable people in society during a time when they expect to see demand increase for their services.