Manager’s Autumn Message

Copy of Foodbank Newsletter – Autumn 2025

I love Autumn. Although the weather is getting colder –which isn’t good news – the amount of donations we receive does go up.

This Harvest time has been
wonderful. I don’t think we’ve ever had so many apples, squashes, potatoes and even a couple of quinces. Then we have all the wonderful, more practical donations from Churches and schools (even if some are a little out of date – the record for the oldest item this year is 2014!). We are grateful for it all.

In the past these collections were always enough to stock us up until the Christmas donations came in, which in turn kept us going until Easter. Unfortunately, it never seems quite so certain these days. Although our numbers are down on last year, reflecting the national picture of around 10% reduction in need, the
level of support our service users are needing is still just as high. Many of them have no fixed address. Some are in “Hotels”, some sofa surfing. Can you imagine trying to feed and manage teenagers in a single hotel room with just a kettle and limited budget? Some only have a couple of nights in each hotel – they can get moved around anywhere in the region, but are still expected to get their kids to school.

As we approach the end of another year (can you believe we are saying that already!!) it’s always a good time to think about how things have gone. As I said before, our numbers are down from previous years – around 10%. One major factor in this is our Citizens Advice (CA) partnership (as reflected in another Foodbank in a recent BBC “One Show” segment). Helping people to maximise their income, deal with debts and look at their budgeting can reduce people’s need for Foodbanks, if not eliminate it completely. If you are stuck on benefits or a limited income, often with more than 2 children or struggling to find work (often because of your age or caring responsibilities) along with the rising costs we are all facing, then there’s a limit to what even the wonderful CA advisors can do.

So, the need goes on.

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