Food donations are 'humbling' - The Evesham Observer

Food donations are 'humbling'

Evesham Editorial 14th Dec, 2015 Updated: 20th Oct, 2016   0

A CARING organiser of Evesham’s only foodbank has praised the town’s ‘exceptionally supportive’ community for their donations and support in the build up to Christmas.

Diane Bennett, who has run the Caring Hands in the Vale outreach group for the past 12 years, has been overwhelmed with donations recently from local schools, churches and supermarkets, but during the festive period the foodbank always sees an increase in referrals for help from those who simply can’t afford to buy food.

And those in need aren’t always families who are living in poverty, more than 50 per cent of referrals are from working people on very low incomes whose take home pay isn’t enough to afford cooked meals.

But as the decorations and trees start to go up, festive goodies are always welcome as families turn to the foodbank for support this Christmas.




“We really would not be able to do anywhere near the capacity of what we do without the support network behind us and that’s local churches, local schools, supermarkets,” Miss Bennett said.

“Just generally the community in Evesham is exceptionally supportive of us and at times we’re really overwhelmed with the donations we receive, it’s just incredibly generous.


“It’s very humbling at times as well the level of support that we get.

Diane also told the Observer that as the weather becomes colder, some family budgets will be stretched even further as electricity and heating bills rise.

“Particularly this time of year as well, if it goes very cold that can have an impact on referrals as well because obviously people are then having to put their electric on for longer and they’ve only got the same level of income, but they’re having to pay more out in terms of electricity and gas costs,” she added.

Visit www.chands.org.uk for more information on how to donate items.

Public Notices

View and download all of the public notices in the Evesham Observer.

Business Directory

From plumbers, to restaurants, we can provide you with all the info you need.

Announcements

Weddings, Birthdays, Bereavements, Thank you notices, Marriages and more.

Advertising

Advertise with the Evesham Observer to reach your audience