Bring Joy to Christmas with a Food Bank Donation

Imagine not having the energy to go about your day because you haven’t eaten or struggling to give your young children 3 meals a day. This is the reality for a rising number of people, with 2022 having seen the cost living skyrocket. Those who were already struggling are now at desperate and are resorting to asking food and warm banks for help.

Household bills have risen by a significant amount in the last year. Gas prices have increased by 129% within a year, and electricity prices by 66%. When people are having to find the money to cover the sharp increase in household bills, it isn’t surprising that they have not got any money left over to buy food for themselves or their families.

As measured by the consumer price index, consumer prices were 11.1% higher in October 2022 than a year before. This means that food prices have shot up and so people are really struggling to be able to afford to eat. With many people having young children who they need to feed, they are having to consider turning to food banks.

Food banks are located across Gloucestershire and if you are fortunate to be able to live comfortably, it might be nice to consider donating to a foodbank to help those who are struggling. You can donate by locating your nearest food bank and directly donating the food to them, using a supermarket collection point (these can be found in Tesco’s, ASDA’s and Morrions’s across the county) or looking for a collection being held at your local school, church or business who will donate the food to a food bank for you. Across Gloucestershire, there’s a few food bank locations in Gloucester and Cheltenham, as well as spots in Malmesbury, Cinderford, Ledbury and Wotton-under-edge.

If you can afford to donate, then food banks are looking for specific items to be donated that they are particularly short of. Foodbanks are also happy to take financial donations, and you can also opt to gift aid your donation. Gloucester foodbank has published a list of items that they need people to donate, these include:

· Long life fruit juices

· Tinned spaghetti

· Tinned meat pies

· Tinned meat e.g., corned beef, ham

· Tinned rice pudding/custard

· Packet instant mash

· Biscuits

· Long life milk

· Coffee

· Shower gel

· Deodorant

· Toothpaste

· Single toothbrushes

Cheltenham foodbanks are in desperate need of:

· Tinned vegetables

· Tinned fruit

· Men’s shower gel

· Tinned rice pudding and custard

· Savoury snacks

· Deodorant

· Sweets and chocolate

· Tinned soup

· Tinned cold meat

· Instant mash

· Christmas food items

It is also good to take note that there are items that food banks are not able to accept. These include goods that are opened or past their sell by date, baby formula or alcohol. Food banks also do not take items that need to be frozen or refrigerated as the items are meant to be easily stored.

The items that foodbanks are desperately in need are very similar for most, the items that Cheltenham and Gloucester foodbanks need are pretty much universal for all food banks across Gloucestershire. Individual foodbanks will be short of a few items which they list on their individual websites. This time of year, they are appreciative of fun and festive donations, such as chocolate, biscuits and cakes.

Christmas is a hard time of year for a lot of reasons, but if you are able to brighten someone’s day with a donation to a food bank then please consider doing so. More people are relying on foodbanks now than in previous years, meaning that supplies at the food banks have to reach more people so the more donations that are received the more people that can be fed. Donations of Christmassy treats will also be much appreciated as people using the food banks are facing tough conditions already, a little bit of something special will brighten up their days.

If you are looking to donate or need to use a foodbank, then please visit The Trussel Trust which will give you instructions on how you can either access help from food banks or how you can volunteer or donate.