Coventry Foodbank opens second warehouse

[dutchman]

A charity which helps feed the city’s poorest people has been so overwhelmed with donations it has opened a second warehouse to store supplies.


Paulina Thorpe (admin officer), Tony Lee (volunteer) and Gavin Kibble (director).

Generous school pupils, church-goers and companies came forward to give food during a recent Coventry Foodbank campaign.

Charity workers were shocked by the immense show of support as unexpected numbers of people gave boxes of long-life produce including tinned soups, beans, fruits and pastas.

The charity’s Hillfields warehouse was quickly filled and there was a risk collections would have to be stopped because there was nowhere to store the food.

But Coventry City Council came to the rescue by providing another warehouse free of charge, as well as providing a van to help collect more supplies.

Gavin Kibble, Coventry Foodbank operations director, said: “Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined such a huge response in these tough economic times.

“The people of Coventry never fail to step up to the mark. They are naturally generous people.

"They understand that their life could change in a moment, that one day they may need the Coventry Foodbank too.”

Gavin added: “The council’s invaluable help has meant we can continue to collect donations and feed hundreds of people who need it in the city.

“The ‘heat or eat’ problem is a real issue, one which is set to get worse as we come to winter, and that’s exactly where the Foodbank comes in to help.

“The common misconception is we only help the homeless but most of our support goes to working low income families who can’t make ends meet.

"We’re here to help people in crisis and we know we’re barely scratching the surface at the moment.”

Since the charity was set up in January, it has fed 4,000 desperate people, half of them under the age of 18.

A total of 35 tonnes of food has been donated to the charity in that time – enough to fill a 40ft articulated lorry while 100 dedicated volunteers work for the charity from eight distribution centres.

Paulina Thorpe, Coventry Foodbank senior administrator, says the charity still needs everyone’s help.

She said: “We’re bracing ourself for a huge increase in demand due to rising heating bills so we really urge people to support us in any way they can.”

* Coventry Foodbank is a part of network of 112 Trussell Trust foodbanks. For information visit http://www.coventrycentralfoodbank or phone 024 7633 500.

[dutchman]

Coventry Foodbank becomes the first to operate seven days a week

A Coventry charity is set to become the first UK foodbank to run seven days a week.

The Coventry Foodbank, which supports the city’s poorest families with free food parcels, has announced it will soon be helping the most disadvantaged people every day.

It has been made possible through the opening of the foodbank’s 11th distribution centre at the SDC Church in Bedlam Lane, Holbrooks, where emergency groceries will be handed out on Thursdays between 12pm and 2pm from next week.

Over the last year, the Coventry Foodbank has fed more than 7,400 people, just under half of whom are children.

Foodbank officials says the move represents soaring demand for their bags of groceries which contain three days of nutritional non-perishable foods such as tinned fruit, vegetables, meat and fish as well as pasta, cereal, UHT milk, sauces, tea and long-life juice.

Ray Ceairns, of the Coventry Foodbank, said: “It’s good news story and a bad news story at the same time.

“The bad news is that there is so much demand due to poverty in this city.

“The good news is that we are now able to extend the help we can offer with another distribution centre allowing us to operate seven days a week.

“We started out a year ago with just one distribution centre, now we have 11.”

The charity – which is the fastest growing of the Trussell Trust’s network of 182 foodbanks – celebrated the news at its new headquarters in the ground floor of William Malcolm House in Attoxhall Road, Wyken.

The office space was donated by Whitefriars Housing Group.

The offices were refurbished by young people from the Prince’s Trust with furniture donated by Coventry City Council.

Mr Ceairns said the charity’s success so far would not be possible without generous food donations from schools, churches, businesses and individuals.

Beneficiaries are referred to foodbanks for reasons which might include redundancy, a delay in getting benefits, ill health, low income, homelessness and debt.

The foodbank works in partnership with care professionals who try to identify the people who are going hungry and issue food vouchers entitling people to a minimum of three days of emergency food.

They also inform them of other organisations able to resolve the underlying cause of the crisis.

The next Coventry Foodbank groceries collection takes place at Tesco Cross Point on Friday, May 11, from 9am until 3.30pm.