Ely Foodbank Newsletter
Spring 2017
Using food before it becomes waste
A partnership between Tesco and FareShare has now
been extended: inviting Foodbanks to help reduce
waste whilst helping our clients. Each week Ely
volunteers collect short-dated food from the Tesco
store such as bread, cakes, fruit and vegetables as well
as flowers. These are shared with clients the following
morning. Clients are really enjoying these extra treats,
and sometimes volunteers do too!
In return we are able to pass on our waste; items that
we cannot put into the boxes can be passed onto the
Hostels. Until someone makes contact with us, a few
essentials left in the cupboards can meet an immediate
need.
Eat Well Spend Less Cooking Course
Chatteris Foodbank will be running an “Eat Well Spend
Less” (EWSL) course, starting on 4th May at Chatteris
Parish Church, in Bricstan Hall. Please spread the word!
Ely volunteers Allison Morris and Bang Wang (thank you
ladies!) recently took a trip to St Neots to learn how to
lead a EWSL course. Each course runs over 6 weekly
session of 3 hours, and is mainly aimed at those wanting
to eat better on a low budget whilst also learning a bit
about hygiene, understanding supermarket offers
and working on those culinary skills. Jamie Oliver
even makes an appearance....by DVD!!
If you know of anyone who would like to attend the
course in Chatteris, or would be interested in a future
course in Ely, please let Cathy know.
Let justice role on like a river
We are now in our 5th year of operations, and thankfully
demand has levelled out. That still means a lot of effort
and many tonnes of food distributed to literally
hundreds of clients. Yet we continue to serve people
holding on to ideals we settled upon at the outset. I
remember the original discussions and the public
meeting some 5 years ago. Our desire to address the
pressing problem of crises food poverty sprang from the
call in the Bible to meet injustices head on.
A political commentator, called Amos, writing some
2,500 years ago wrote: "Let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never failing stream!" (Amos 5:24).
That imagery is apt for us ... we want to continue rolling
out help to those who otherwise find little or none, and
for that provision to continue and not dry up. Knowing
this is God's heart, we both organise ourselves to be
able to sustain our operations into the future and call
on God for the on-going resources to do so: "Lord, let
justice roll on ...”.
This connection between practical arrangements for
week-by-week operations on the one hand, and deep
spiritual roots on the other, is important to us. It
underpins our work and keeps fuelling us for the times
ahead. There may be busy seasons and light seasons,
there may be times where it all seems to flow nicely and
there may be periods where operations prove difficult,
but we look deep into God Himself as our inspiration for
justice, a source that will never fail.
Karl Relton, Chair of Trustees
Getting sharing on Social Media!
Please help us raise awareness on
social media. Like us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ElyFoodbank and
follow us on Twitter at @FoodbankEly
Sugar is not so sweet at Foodbanks
Trussell Trust are working towards healthier emergency
food parcels. As a result, bags of sugar are now being
taken off the packing lists and will only be given out if
available and requested. We will be decreasing our
stocks in both stores.
Ely Foodbank, run in partnership with local churches, facilitated by Churches Together and seeded by the Trussell Trust. Registered
Charity no 1150746. T: 01353 468626 E: [email protected] W: www.elyfoodbank.org.uk ElyFoodbank @FoodbankEly
Ely Foodbank Newsletter
Spring 2017
Foodbank Warehouse Stock
We are blessed at the Foodbank to currently have a
surplus of stock and we are forever grateful for donors
who regularly purchase an extra item to help someone
in need.
wisdom and practical contribution throughout this time.
We are now in the process of looking for a new trustee
to act as Treasurer.
Volunteer Corner
Last month we received 2,405 kg of food into the stores,
and gave 3,234 Kg of food out. You might be interested
to know, that since we started, we have received a
grand total of 184,111 kg of food, and given out a grand
total of 176,222 kg.
We will continue to keep you updated on low stock
items, and please also check out our new Facebook
page and Twitter feed where we will post current
needs.
Note to our Agencies
Do you represent an agency that works in partnership
with Ely Foodbank? We are always looking to ensure
that we are working together with you in the best
possible way. Maybe you've recently had a change of
team member, change of contact details, or maybe you
are wondering where your vouchers are! If as a voucher
holder you have any questions or suggestions to
improve our relationship, please get in touch with us, so
that we can explore how to nurture our working
relationship together.
Thank you to PA Calls
A big shout out to PA Calls. PA calls provide us a
valuable service, triaging our phone calls and emails,
answering many directly, as well as now additionally
supporting us with the admin involved in recruiting new
volunteers. A great big thank you to them!!
Thank you Matthew
Matthew Lavis, our Treasurer, has served Ely Foodbank
since the beginning, and is now due to retire. We’d like
to acknowledge our appreciation for Matthew’s skill,
Training
A training session has been arranged on the 24th April at
the Countess Church, Ely, to cover Listening, Signposting
and Safeguarding. This is a great opportunity for us all
to hear directly from Trussell Trust and meet our Area
Manager. Please do sign up via the doodle or let Amy
know at [email protected]
Updating Paperwork
Co-ordinator Leaders will be catching up with you in the
next few weeks, to update your paperwork. If details
have changed, or you've never signed a Confidentiality
Agreement, or would like to ask questions or have
suggestions, please take the opportunity with your
Co-ordinator.
Tesco Collection
The Tesco collection held recently, collected in 484.5 kg
of food - most of which were items that we badly
needed such as juice, milk, coffee and jam. Thank you to
all volunteers who helped on the day and to customers
who gave so generously too. Get ready please for the
next one... JUNE 2ND!!
Ely Foodbank, run in partnership with local churches, facilitated by Churches Together and seeded by the Trussell Trust. Registered
Charity no 1150746. T: 01353 468626 E: [email protected] W: www.elyfoodbank.org.uk ElyFoodbank @FoodbankEly