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swindonlink.com • December 2010 55
A fiver for five years of Foodbank

Swindon charity Foodbank - which provides emergency food to people
in crisis - was five years old in November, and with the number of
people using Foodbank continuing to increase as a result of the reces-
sion, organisers are putting out a birthday appeal.
Project manager
Richard Belsham
said, “we’ve been
so thankful to all
those people who
have donated food
over the last five
years – it’s truly
been amazing and
we’ve been able
to assist hundreds
of people. But if
anyone would like
to help us further,
with a small do-
nation of £5 - a
pound for every
year we’ve been
in operation - that
would be brilliant.
“As Christmas Above, November 2005, at Shaw Ridge Primary School, The
is coming up, it’s a Link published the first Foodbank school collection picture.
great chance to get Below, Richard with youngsters at Westlea Primary School
in November who this year collected over 283kg of food, the
into the spirit of fes- largest ever school collection.
tive fundraising.”
Foodbank provides boxes with by community groups or offices
enough food for three days, giving making monthly collections. In
clients’ time to find help for their five years we’ve given away over
situation without also facing hun- 667,500 tins of food - more than
ger. Families are referred to them by 100 tonnes.
front-line care professionals such as “We have about 250 volunteers
health visitors, social workers and who sort and pack the food, and
children’s centres. even our finances are totally vol-
Richard added, “you might think untary contributions - in five years
there aren’t any issues of poverty in donations have paid for the ware-
an affluent town like Swindon, but house, the van, all our running costs
in reality 1 in 6 adults live close to - and we’ve never yet missed a bill.
the edges of their finances, with no But we know we could do more.”
safety net. It means that a sudden Become a BOGO shopper
crisis - such as ill health or delayed The next Foodbank supermarket
benefits - can leave families strug- collection takes place on Saturdays
gling to put food on the table. The 27 November at Tesco, Ocotal Way
number of people we fed in a month and 4 December at Sainsburys,
doubled from 2008 to 2009 and this Bridgemead, 9.30am to 4.30pm at
has increased during this year. Who both venues.
knows if the level of need will grow? Take advantage of the BOGOF
“We couldn’t do the work we do offers and become a Buy One Give
without the support from the town. One - BOGO - person.
All the food is donated, whether
at our supermarket collections or http://bit.ly/swindonfood

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