Demand for foodbank support this year has been very high. However, at Christmas there is always extra expense. People want to give gifts to their families. They are at home, unable to access free school meals and need to keep warm etc. In all of this, Christmas should be a time of celebration for everyone – and we like to help as much as we can.
Many people want to volunteer for foodbanks at Christmas. However, our teams work together regularly. We give trainning to our teams so that they are familiar with safeguarding, know the foodbank process and have a good knowledge of the local support available. Because of this, we cannot take on short-term volunteers for the Christmas period.
Lots of you want to support our work and support local families at Christmas but do not know what to do. So we have three options below of how you can really support us this year.
We do not receive statutory funding, and our only donations of food come from the public. These are genuine ways of helping us, which are all not only valuable but essential to help local families.
There are three ways to get involved this Christmas
- By donating our normal priority items (we know a treat is nice at Christmas but the people we support still need our regular items)
- By donating a ‘Christmas in a bag’ These are given to people needing emergency food support before Christmas so they have some festive items. (see information below or email admin@exeterfoodbank.org.uk)
- By working with your community group, school, church or workplace to do a group collection of food items. This might involve some creative organising such as a reverse advent calendar, or a Christmas hat day for bringing in a tin! (Please email admin@exeterfoodbank.org.uk for a donation list, drop off locations, and a media pack)
We would also love to see some pictures of you making up your Christmas in a Bag donation, or your office food collection. Please send images with the consent of everyone in them to admin@exeterfoodbank.org.uk.
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Thank you all for your support, care, and kindness, With best wishes, The Exeter Foodbank Team.
