North Cotswold Foodbank
Newsletter 20: March 2017
Tesco Collections
Contact details
A big “thank you” to everyone who donated food and
money at the Tesco Neighbourhood Food Collection in
Stow-on-the-Wold last December. We raised £1,300 in
financial donations and 870kg of food. Tesco tops up
the food donations by an equivalent 20% in cash. Many
of the items donated, such as mince pies and Christmas
cakes, are used to make up Christmas hampers which are
distributed to everyone with a voucher attending our
centres during the last two weeks of December.
For families already managing tight budgets, winter is often the hardest time of year.
Every December, we meet people who have been hit by something unavoidable, like
redundancy or illness, and are facing Christmas unable to afford food.
Since the Neighbourhood Food Collection was launched in 2012, the equivalent of more
than 43 million meals have been donated by Tesco customers around the country.
As well as the Neighbourhood Food Collections, don’t forget you can also donate at the
permanent collection points in Tesco stores and Tesco top these up by 20% for us, too:
we received £170 from the permanent collection points between March and the end of
June 2016.
Address:
North Cotswold Foodbank
Unit 2, Glebe Farm Buildings,
Guiting Power,
Cheltenham,
GL54 5TZ
Tel: 07879 375562
Email: info@northcotswold.
foodbank.org.uk
Store opening
Please note that the Guiting
Power store is only open on
Tuesdays, from 10-12, for
donations of food only.
What’s in our food parcels?
From Store to Table
The following is an overview of what happens to your food donation.
1. We accept food donations at the store in Guiting Power
(see box opposite for opening times) and we collect food
donated at the permanent collection points in Tesco stores,
in churches and other locations.
2. Volunteers at the store weigh in and sort the food to
check that it’s in date and then store it on racks according
to use-by dates. Some foodbanks can accept fresh food,
but North Cotswold Foodbank does not have the facility to store perishable items.
3. Volunteers make up food parcels of varying sizes for
individuals, couples and families. A packing list identifies the
items and quantities for each parcel. You can see the contents
for a typical food parcel for a family in the box opposite. The
items are packed into crates for distribution to the outlets at
Bourton, Moreton, Chipping Campden, Winchcombe and
Bishops Cleeve.
4. We partner with a wide range of a range of professionals
including medical practitioners as well as charities and local
organisations such as P3, Green Square and CAB. These
professionals identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher for three
days’ emergency food. As a guide, clients are only offered three vouchers per crisis in a
six-month period but we do work with agencies to ensure people do not go hungry if this
limit is not appropriate.
5. Foodbank clients bring their voucher to one of our outlets where it can be redeemed.
Our volunteers meet clients over a warm drink and are able to signpost people to
agencies able to help solve the longer-term problem where appropriate.
Trussell Trust has worked with
nutritionists to develop a food
parcel that contains sufficient
nutrition for adults and children,
for at least three days of
healthy, balanced meals for
individuals and families. A
typical food parcel includes:
• Cereal
• Soup
• Rice
• Beans
• Tinned meat and fish
• Tinned vegetables
• Tea/coffee
• Tinned fruit
• Custard
• Biscuits
• Long-life milk and fruit juice
It has historically been our practice
to include bagged sugar in client
food parcels. However, given the
concern about the health risks from
high sugar intake, we no longer
provide clients with bags of sugar
and make it available only at our
collection points via a “help yourself” facility.
The Foodbank is very grateful for the generous financial support of: the Notgrove Trust; Co-operative Community Fund; the Baptist
Union; the Summerfield Trust; Gloucester Community Foundation; the Moreton Charity; Edith Mann Charity; Bourton on the Water
Trust; the Northleach Club; Sudeley Lodge; Yorkshire Building Society; Dormer House School; Muslim Hands; Emporium Gifts; Moreton
Conservative Association; The Unite Union; and many Parish Councils, churches, town councils individual donors and groups.
North Cotswold Foodbank, c/o Unit 2, Glebe Farm Buildings, Guiting Power, GL54 5TZ
Charity Number: 1150719 email: [email protected] phone: 07879 375562
North Cotswold Foodbank
Newsletter 20: March 2017
Non-food Items
As well as food, toiletries and hygiene products are also
extremely important, as these are expensive items for
families to buy.
A recent item on BBC Woman’s Hour described how girls
from low-income families in the UK are missing school
because they are unable to afford to buy sanitary
protection. Throughout the discussion, there were many
mentions of the difference that can be made when people donate sanitary products to
foodbanks. You can listen to the discussion here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04wxpgr
The photo above shows toiletries kindly donated to us by employees from a local company.
All Change
Barbara Bridges is retiring from the ministry and handing over her lead responsibilities at
Moreton-in-Marsh foodbank outlet. Barbara was responsible for setting up the foodbank
there. We will miss her and would like to thank her for all that she has done. Alexia Monroe
will now take over at Moreton.
Our thanks also go to Tooty Gibbs who has stood down as a trustee, having been committed
to the role for a number of years. She has handed over the reins to two newly appointed
trustees, Alexia Monroe and Paul Fisher. They will work alongside James Milton and be
responsible for all the legal and technical aspects of North Cotswolds Foodbank. Tooty will
continue to lead the distribution centre at Campden Baptist Church.
Money Life
In 2014/15, an average of 7.29% of clients were referred to
foodbanks because of debt problems. Budgeting when you’re
on a low, or no, income can be incredibly difficult and stressful.
Here at North Cotswold Foodbank we are training our volunteers
so that they can provide appropriate signposting for additional
help, for example to Citizens Advice, and we are looking at
having local advisors available at our outlet centres to provide
help such as managing or avoiding debt, setting a budget and
making sure that people are accessing any finance available through grants or benefits.
What can you cook with
our food parcels?
Beany Crunch
Serves 2-3 portions
1 large tin each of red kidney
beans, butter beans and any
other beans/chick peas of
choice
1 Large tin chopped tomatoes
plus half a can of water
Herbs and seasoning of
choice. (Half a stock cube
plus a little chilli is good.
Tomato purée if you have it.)
Cook these together over
gentle heat for 15 mins, place
in oven proof dish and cover
with some fresh breadcrumbs
or crushed savoury crackers
or crisps. Heat through and
brown the top in oven or
under grill.
This is a dish full of flavour
and fibre. It can be enhanced
with the addition of some
lightly fried bacon pieces,
chopped onion and a little
celery and with grated cheese
on the top. Experiment when
you can!
Swedish Meatballs
Serves 3 good portions
A client who spoke to a financial advisor at Cardiff foodbank commented that: “Before I met the
advisor at the foodbank I was too scared to go to the advice centre as I felt like such a fool. It
feels like a weight off my shoulders, they are helping me do a weekly budget, which I have
never done before.”
Fire-stricken Store Donates Stock to Foodbank
Kind-hearted staff at the One Stop shop in Chipping Campden
donated box loads of stock to the town’s foodbank after fire struck
the store one morning in January. Thoughtful managers at the shop
salvaged a large quantity of chocolates, tinned fruit, cereals, soups
and snacks which were at the back of the shop. Tooty Gibbs, who
runs the Chipping Campden foodbank outlet, said: “We are very
grateful for the kind donation made by the One Stop management
and it’s good to know that some good has come out of this whole situation”.
Donations
Just a reminder that in addition to food, financial donations are always welcome as these
support our ongoing work at the Foodbank. Details of how to donate can be found on our
website here: https://northcotswold.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/
Don’t forget to complete the Gift Aid form if you are a taxpayer. For every £1 you donate we
can reclaim 25p tax to help your donation go even further.
North Cotswold Foodbank, c/o Unit 2, Glebe Farm Buildings, Guiting Power, GL54 5TZ
Charity Number: 1150719 email: [email protected] phone: 07879 375562
1 tin meatballs
1 tin tomato soup
1tin butter beans
1 small tin carrots
150g pasta (tagliatelle is nice)
These all go into a casserole
dish and are gently heated
through whilst the pasta is
cooking.
Season to taste.
Then serve the meatballs on
top of the pasta.
If you have an onion and a
few rashers of bacon fry
these together and add to the
meatballs.
This is also nice served on
rice.