Thank you very much to the:
Royal Edward Lodge,
Freemasons of Gloucestershire & Masonic Charitable Foundation
Who have donated £3040 towards our work during the Covid-19 crisis. It is much appreciated and has helped us with purchasing food and high volumes of supplies for our office during the crisis.
A donation of £2,000 has recently been received by Bristol North West Foodbank from Freemasons of Gloucestershire originally put forward by Royal Edward Lodge and provided by a grant of £1,000 from Gloucestershire Masonic Charity Association and match funded with a further £1,000 from Masonic Charitable Foundation. Have those two payments arrived safely with you as they were to be made direct?
Yes they were thank you
To what will this money be applied particularly in the current crisis?
We have been spending the money on Food gaps e.g. nappies, toiletries, general tins and packets, increased office supplies such as large quantities of paper and printer cartridges, parcel tape for emergency boxes.
How many people or families are you currently having to help?
We helped 5017 people between March-the end of May. This was a 360% increase in April on the same time last year.
What help are you actually able to provide during Covid-19 and lockdown, and are there any logistical issues?
We are providing home delivery of around 150 food parcels a week, plus we give out around 25 parcels from our door. Our Advice worker is offering telephone appointments for 20 hours a week. Our Homebank has helped around 25 families with emergency household items during Covid-19. These items are also delivered.
Our main issue at the moment is the storage of food. We are currently packing boxes for 2021 and are storing them at another location away from our Foodbank site.
Also some of our volunteers are returning to work, so we are in the process of trying to bring our regular volunteers back into the Foodbank.
Are you having any other issues regarding delivery of your services during the crisis?
No.
Has there been a significant upturn in the number of persons/families seeking your assistance since the beginning of the year? Are there any comparative figures for, say, a period of time during this year by comparison to last year?
March 2019
Parcels People fed
216 602
March 2020
Parcels People fed
322 1017
April 2019
Parcels People fed
194 515
April 2020
Parcels People fed
760 2250
May 2019
Parcels People fed
215 604
May 2020
Parcels People fed
594 1840
Are your outlets still at Avonmouth, Henbury, Hotwells and Lawrence Weston?
YES
Your website says that 35,700 people approximately have been helped over a 9 year period since your foundation. Presumably that figure is now significantly higher? Do you have a current figure which we can report back to Brethren?
42 322 people
Who is eligible for your assistance?
Anyone in a crisis who is referred to us.
It is understood that you provide temporary assistance with food for a certain number of meals over a given period. In the current crisis we anticipate that some people will be constantly in a state of need for food and help. Are you able to assist them and are there are any restrictions or limitations on what assistance you are able to provide?
All of our help is provided in response to referrals by over 300 care agencies registered with us. We will review a case once someone has been sent more than three times to check they are getting the assistance they require to move on from their crisis. We will continue helping a client if the referral agency deems it necessary.
I will happily put something on our Facebook page. We have had a large number of donations from companies and groups who like yourselves are helping us either as one offs or regularly…. We generally thank organisations on our Facebook page.
Once things return to some sort of “normal”, would someone from the food bank be able to meet us either for a photo opportunity or for you to come to talk to Brethren at a meeting or reception as to what help you have been able to deliver by virtue of the support and of course what assistance you need going forward?
Yes
Probably all of your answers above will already give indications but how serious is, in your opinion, the food shortages’ problem within your North Bristol area and the four Centres mentioned?
We have had a great response over the Lockdown for food and have a really good store of food for the next few months. We are thinking that things are going to get more difficult around Christmas time once the unemployment really kicks in.
Emma at Bristol North West Foodbank
26.06.2020
https://www.bristolnorthwestfoodbank.org.uk/