Feeding The Needy -  Food  For Thought

In May this year we received a request from Billericay Food Bank to support their purchase of a second-hand (2018/19) Transit van, which was estimated to cost £20,000, of which they needed to raise half - £10,000.  Existing transport facilities for delivering food was failing and assistance was urgently needed to meet the increase in demand for their services.

Members discussed this application at length and agreed that such a worthy cause demanded our support and a donation of £1,000 was made.  Club Secretary Brian also informed the other Billericay Rotary Clubs of our donation to encourage them to help too.

It was with great pleasure that we heard that the Food Bank had reached its target and had acquired the vehicle it wanted, and on Monday September 12, two members of the organisation – Jim Rose and Stuart Gibbs – came along to our club meeting to show us the vehicle and talk to us about the work of the organisation.

Jim started with background to the organisation and then Stuart took us through a most enlightening presentation and talk, demonstrating the culture of the food bank and the work it undertook to meet the needs of families in our District.

Donations and Needs

The food bank was launched at St Johns Church in the Outwood common area of Billericay in March 2018.  It has recently moved the main centre to premises at the Community Hub at 8-10 High Street Billericay, a more central and highly visible location (great for PR) with more extensive storage facilities.  It is not a small operation.  There are over 80 volunteers essential to the operation, carrying out tasks such as Drivers/Collectors, Packers, Sorters, Finance, Publicity, Steering Group.

There are two sides to the work of the food bank - receiving donations of food and money, and supplying food to meet the community’s needs.

What sort of food do they take in? Canned meals, vegetables, fruit and desserts, UHT milk, drinks, rice, pasta, toilet rolls, soaps, shampoos, sanitary products etc.

A Growing Business

• Deliveries have soared from 15 at the start of Lockdown in March 2020, to 41 in May that year, and peaking at 90 deliveries in December 2021.  The most recent figure is 87 deliveries including 20 walk-ins.
• Deliveries are made to Ramsden Heath/Stock, Noak Bridge, Wickford and Basildon.  A monthly total of approximately 360 parcels.
• The Food Bank supports 146 Adults, 103 Children, 43 Families with Children – a total of 249 People (plus 40 cats & 30 dogs!).

A Regular Schedule

It operates to a regular timetable with collections on Tuesday and Thursday, packing and deliveries on Thursday and distribution from the Hubs on Friday. 

In addition, during school holidays thanks to funding by Essex County Council and Active Essex, it also provides lunches for school kids, family food packages including bread, sandwich fillings, drinks and snacks.

Funding

The money to keep the operation running comes from personal donations, Rotary Clubs, Community Funds such as from Anglian Water, Essex Community Fund, Fairshare, Waitrose, and fundraising at Waitrose and the Co-op, BBWCVS, Basildon Council, etc. etc.

However, its activities stretch beyond general food bank supplies - it supports others such as Ukrainian Refugees, Asylum Seekers, MIND and many others in need.
Its main customers come from two main routes –

• referrals via health services,
• self referrals (which require a limited discussion to assess need.  E.g. How many in the family.

Feedback from those receiving help is very positive with comments saying “THANK YOU very much for treating us with respect and delivering essentials to us”.