The Christmas period has been particularly busy for the Bath Foodbank team for two reasons. Firstly, we have received so many donations of food from across the community, which has been amazing. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. Secondly, we have moved warehouse, which was a lot of work at a busy time of year. But we are in and settled, thanks to all our wonderful volunteers. Everyone put in extra time and effort to help make the move smooth, whilst still operating ‘business as usual’. My huge thanks to John Stauber, Warehouse Manager, and all the volunteers who made this move happen. Our new warehouse is located at Unit 9, Brassmill Enterprise Centre, BA1 3JN. You can find the location HERE.
There were many local people who needed Bath Foodbank over the Christmas period and, thanks to the community’s kindness in providing donations, we were able to give out emergency food parcels to all who came to us.
We also gave out 228 toy vouchers to parents, so they could buy Christmas presents for each of their children. Thank you to everyone who donated through Genesis Christmas Gifts to help fund the toy vouchers. And, thanks to Topping & Company Booksellers, we gave out 70 book vouchers for children too. Thank you for this support for the community.
It is with sadness that we share the closure of Taste of Bath. They have supported Bath Foodbank is so many ways over the years, not least through gifting £10,000. They also set up our much loved Bookbank (along with Bath Festivals and supported by Mr Bs Emporium). Our thanks goes to Helen and Jo for all their kindness and support. We are so very grateful.
I’d like to end my update with sharing a reflection by Emma Drew, Individual Giving Manager, who helped out at a Bath Foodbank session at Manvers Street in December. It gives a real flavour of how Bath Foodbank operates and provides for clients.
Thank you to everyone who makes Bath Foodbank possible.
Bath Foodbank at Christmas
On Wednesday 18th December I joined the Bath Foodbank team at Manvers Street Baptist Church for a busy session on the lead up to Christmas.
The team consisted of two volunteers packing the food parcels in the storage room and two sitting with clients to go through the food list and chat with them, Grainne Moher, Bath Foodbank manager, booked in each client as they came in and I made teas and coffees for people. This day had an extra volunteer in the packing team because we had Christmas items to add to the bags, such as boxes of biscuits, mince pies, Christmas puddings and chocolate Santas for children.
Once we’d set up the room, which included a Christmas tree, festive table clothes and decorations, we switched on the radio and opened the doors to clients. To begin with, there was quite a queue waiting to log their voucher codes with Grainne, so I was able to offer drinks as they waited.
One thing I noticed was how personable the team were with all the clients. Grainne was so good at knowing what to say. Some of the clients were experiencing difficult situations with housing or health conditions. Grainne managed each conversation so well, showing empathy and kindness.
Over the course of the session there was a real mix of people who came in for parcels. Because of the rush when we first opened, some people had to wait to be seen by the volunteers and a few looked at the book bank and read whilst they waited. There was also a social worker who came in to collect a parcel for a client who was unable to attend in person.
Some had toddlers or babies and we were able to offer some donated colouring books and toys to them. These clients were given a £25.00 toy voucher (per child) for the Entertainer, so they could buy a Christmas present for each of their children. The vouchers were so gratefully received and were a real surprise to most of them.
We were also joined by both Bella Everett from Citizen’s Advice and Ryan Kirby from Clean Slate. They each saw a few clients throughout the session and sat at tables with clients as they waited for their parcels to chat about what they could support with. When I spoke with Grainne after the session, she said Bella and Ryan had really become part of the Bath Foodbank team. They are very much part of the offering for clients, working together to help people improve their situation so they can be independent and in control of their lives.
All together during the two-and-a-half-hour session, we gave our parcels for 33 adults and 22 children. During that week there were another five sessions where a further 111 adults and 61 children were provided for. This was just one week during December.
I’d like to thank all our Foodbank volunteers for their hard work week in, week out. And for all those who have donated food and funds to support Bath Foodbank at this busy time of the year. Bath Foodbank will always be a team effort, supported by the community, for the community.
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