The Clevedon and District Foodbank are part of The Trussell Trust’s network of 428 foodbanks, working to tackle food poverty and hunger in our local communities, as well as across the UK. They want to make sure that no one in our local community has to go hungry, but they need our help to make this happen. A gift of financial support, time, business partnership and food can make a real difference.

With more than thirteen million people living below the poverty line in the UK, with individuals going hungry every day for a range of reasons, from benefit delays to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income, there is a real need for these foodbanks.

In 2017/18, The Trussell Trust’s Foodbank Network provided 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies and support to UK people in crisis, of these, 484,026 went to children.

As a network, they want to see more people helped out of crisis and fewer people needing foodbanks in the future. That’s why The Trussell Trust and local foodbanks are working together to develop new ways to help people out of crisis through programmes like More Than Food.

Clevedon and District Foodbank covers Clevedon, Nailsea, Portishead and the surrounding towns and villages. Each food parcel provides 3 days emergency food  for people in crisis. They also provide lunch bags during the school holidays for children who would normally receive free school meals (pupil premium). Each lunch bag offers non-perishable food items to provide five good lunches.

In order to provide the most appropriate help for a person’s given situation the Foodbank work with local agencies. If they feel that a person is struggling to put food on the table, they will issue  a foodbank voucher. The local agency can also provide long term support if needed to help address some of the issues behind the reasons for the crisis. The Foodbank works with a number of different agencies, such as Citizens Advice, children’s centres, schools and health visitors.

How does it all work?

Food is donated

Schools, churches, businesses and individuals donate non-perishable, in-date food to a foodbank. Over 90% of the food distributed by foodbanks in The Trussell Trust network is donated by the public – that’s why our food donations are absolutely vital to their ability to give everyone referred to them, a balanced and nutritious three day supply of food.

The Foodbank are currently putting together their Christmas Hampers. Last year, they distributed 234 hampers to families and individuals in Clevedon, Nailsea Portishead and surrounding communities. These are the items they need by 14th December. 

• Christmas Cake
• Stuffing mix
• Chocolates
• Sweets
• Tinned Ham
• Christmas crackers
• Tinned fruit
• Tinned salmon
• Fancy biscuits
• Tinned custard
• Hot chocolate
• Toiletries
• Cranberry sauce
• Mince pies

These are the drop off food collection point locations:

Food is sorted and stored

Volunteers sort food to check that it’s in date and pack it into boxes ready to be given to people in need. Over 40,000 people give up their time to volunteer at foodbanks.

Professionals identify people in need

Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and police to identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher. Everyone who comes to the foodbank for emergency food needs to have a valid foodbank voucher

Clients receive food

Foodbank clients bring their voucher to to the Foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days’ emergency food. Volunteers meet clients and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem.

Here are the opening times and locations for the foodbank centres:

Volunteering

Volunteers are the life blood behind so many organisations in Clevedon and they are certainly the driving force behind the Clevedon District Foodbank CIO. There are numerous ways we could volunteer to help; your skills could be just what the Foodbank need. Whatever role we choose, we will be making a real difference to the life of someone in crisis.

Warehouse volunteer

Help is always needed to weigh, sort and store donated food before it’s made into parcels for clients to collect. We could help in this vital work to ensure that the right food is available at all times.

Helping at a foodbank centre

This involves meeting clients and giving out food parcels. It could also involve having an informal chat with clients over a cup of tea, to discuss their situation and signpost to further support.

Become a partner with the foodbank

The support of local and national businesses is vital to the running of the foodbank. There are lots of ways to get involved, you could:

• Organise a fundraising event to help make sure that no-one has to go hungry.
• Sponsor or donate equipment to help with the day-to-day running of the foodbank.
• Hold a team building day – volunteer with the foodbank and see how many food donations your team can sort and pack for people in crisis.
• Ask your staff to share their workplace skills with the volunteers to make them more effective.
• Run a food drive at your offices.

If your company shares the belief that no-one should go hungry in our local area, then the foodbank would love to hear from you.

Find out more about the Clevedon and District Foodbank here: