The Isle of Wight foodbank has now been operational for five years and during this period the organisation has fed (to-date) 21,529 local people in crisis (13,242 adults and 8,287 children) from the 236 tonnes of food kindly donated by the local community.
Isle of Wight foodbank was established in April 2011 and opened its first distribution centre in the July. The organisation now consists of a warehouse, offices and a textile recycling centre and community café at The foodbank Centre, Love Lane, Cowes, plus 7 foodbank distribution centres located around the Island at Cowes, Ryde, Newport, Ventnor, Sandown, Shanklin and Freshwater. The costs of running and staffing the distribution centres are met by local churches and not at a cost to the foodbank.
Hannah King, Manager of Isle of Wight foodbank said, “Five years is a significant milestone for the work that has been achieved by the local community here on the island. We are sincerely thankful to everyone who donates food or finances to keep the charity running and also to our amazing volunteers for their sustaining support which has enabled us to continue to help local people in crisis.”
We are very fortunate to have 234 active volunteers, all local people, who either work in the warehouse sorting food donations or help run the foodbank distribution centres by engaging with clients, packing and distributing food. They are an absolute godsend and demonstrate that foodbanks really are run by the community for the community.
Who does the foodbank help?
We help and support people from all walks of life but in the present climate the main reasons we see people coming to us is due to benefit problems and low income. We find that people on low incomes are often very innovative in managing extremely low budgets, but when a ‘life shock’ from an outside source happens – like an unexpected bill or redundancy – there is no breathing space to cushion family finances and that’s where foodbank can help. It’s so important that a foodbank can be there for someone when it feels like there’s nowhere else to turn.
An example of this is when a family with two very young children contacted the foodbank explaining that their car had failed its MOT. The father’s job (sole earner) required him to use the family car for making deliveries and they were having to decide whether to afford to have it repaired or buy food for the family for the next few weeks. This is where we were able to step in, help out for a short time and ensure the family didn’t fall into the downward spiral of getting into financial debt. The car was repaired, and now the family are back on track – both parents were so grateful for the help they received at their time of crisis.
Enabling the foodbank to continue supporting people on the island in crisis
We very much appreciate the support of local people and businesses in our fund-raising. General comments made by those supporting and assisting the work that we do is that “we never know what may happen”, “most of us are only one pay check away from crisis”, and “ you never know…it could be us one day…”.
Turning fashion into food- On the first Saturday of every month, IW foodbank runs a clothing sale at the foodbank centre in Love Lane, Cowes where customers can relax in comfortable surroundings and shop for a bargain from a wide selection of brand new and pre-loved clothing including sportswear, school uniform, day and evening wear, and top brands like Zara, Ralph Lauren, Fred Perry, Ted Baker, Monsoon, Laura Ashley, TopShop & ASOS. The next event takes place on Saturday 6th August 2016 from 10am-1pm- with coffee and homemade cake available too!
How the local community can get involved:
- Food donations can be given at supermarkets like Tesco Extra, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrisons
- Voluntary donations – Donate finances to the foodbank or volunteer your time
- Fundraising
How businesses can get involved:
- Hold one of our Textile bins at your work place
- Fundraising
- Sponsorship
Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us over the last 5 years. We are saddened that there is still a need for a foodbank on the Isle of Wight, but are continuously grateful for volunteers, businesses and the local people on the Island who make it possible for us to support local people in crisis.
To find out more about the Isle of Wight foodbank and how you or your business can get involved, please visit: www.theisleofwightfoodbank.com