There’s a great deal to update you about! So much is happening at Bath Foodbank and we have some exciting news to share with you.
Harvest update – A massive thank you to our community
We want to say a huge thank you to all the churches, schools, supermarkets and organisations that ran harvest food campaigns for us. They donated over 6 tonnes of food this autumn. But what does 6 tonnes look like? Well let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The average African bush elephant, which is the largest living land animal, weighs about six tonnes. If you’ve seen our Genesis Furniture van it is nearly the weight of two vans.
Last year only 3.6 tonnes of food was donated during the autumn harvest campaign. This meant Bath Foodbank spent more money buying in food last year than any year before. This makes the tremendous generosity of our community even more exciting. This harvest has really set us up well for the coming winter.
Bath Cats and Dogs Home helps with pet food
At Genesis Trust we believe in partnership and collaboration. It is so important that we join hands with other organisations because it’s essential to support people more effectively.
Did you know that Bath Foodbank also provides pet food for vulnerable families? Thanks to Bath Cats and Dogs Home which supports Bath Foodbank with a monthly donation of pet food. So far this year Bath Cats and Dogs Home has donated 1488.9kgs, the weight of an average hippo, by the way.
You may find that odd that we provide pet food as well as food and toiletries, but it’s a huge benefit to our vulnerable clients. Having a pet can support the mental wellbeing of vulnerable people. Pets can bring love and affection to a stressful home and encourages people to go out for walks which is good for mental health.
Photographed above is Emma Harrison, Education and Outreach Manager with BCDH and a dedicated BCDH volunteer Mandy who helps to manage their pet food stores at the centre with Colin and Charles, volunteer Bath Foodbank van drivers.
Emma Harrison, Education and Outreach Manager at Bath Cats and Dogs Home said: ‘We are delighted to be able to share our surplus dog and cat food with Bath Food Bank to support local pet owners who need it most. By doing so, we aim to help keep pets in their loving homes and prevent them being surrendered to animal rescue centres.”
Can you imagine how traumatising it could be for a family if their loved pet must be given away because of a financial crisis? When people are struggling financially one way to cut costs is to give up their pets and then this overloads Bath Cats and Dogs Home with abandoned animals. We’ve partnered with them to help keep pets in people’s homes.
Grainne Moher, Food Manager, said, “It is a real lifeline for people who are struggling financially, or with other challenges, for us to help them feed their beloved pets and prevent their animals having to be rehomed.” Our clients often say that it really helps reduce their stress and they are surprised and touched that we can help them feed and support their adored pets.”
A new way to donate online via Give Today
And speaking of partnerships, Bath Foodbank and Genesis Trust have partnered with Give Today to make donating food and other essential items for homeless and vulnerable people even easier.
We have two new Give Today online shops where you can donate online, and your donation will be delivered directly to the Bath Foodbank warehouse and the Genesis Trust office. So easy! And the prices on the Give Today site are much better than purchasing at a shop.
To donate food online for the most vulnerable in our community please click HERE.
To donate essential items like socks, underwear and toiletries for homeless and vulnerable people please click HERE.
You can also hover over the donate button at the top of our website and click ‘Donate Food’ or ‘Donate via Give Today’.
Bath Foodbank’s warehouse is moving soon
Just a heads up. We are selling the property that is currently the Bath Foodbank warehouse in Oldfield Park. Starting December 2nd the new warehouse will be based at a unit in Brassmill Enterprise Centre. During what is already our busiest time of year our fantastic team of volunteers have offered many hands and hours to help, thanks to them (not to forget our brilliant warehouse manager!) it should go nice and smoothly, and without interruption to our service – we couldn’t do it without them! We will tell you more about this in the new year.
There is so much need in our community and, unfortunately, the need is only growing. That’s why we want to take the time to say thank you to those who partner with us. It is truly local people helping local people in crisis.
