Christmas – the time to give something back!
For Christmas this year, our team wanted to give something back. We wanted to make a difference – to a close-to-home charity. The North Bristol Food Bank have a Reverse Advent Calendar appeal – https://northbristol.foodbank.org.uk/2018/11/09/reverse-advent-calendar-2018/
Great idea! Donating much needed food items instead of our usual chocolatey treats in December.
We took our donations and met the friendly team at Ebenezer Church who were busy preparing hampers to distribute to local people.
We wanted to find out more about the work North Bristol Food Bank do, who they help and how we can get involved all year round!
The Reverse Advent Calendar idea is great; Who thought that one up?
“It is a brilliant idea! We’re not sure where the idea originated from, but we’ve been collecting Reverse Advent Calendars from families and companies over the last 2 years.”
Where do all the food donations go? And who do they help?
“All the food goes to local people in Horfield, Filton, Lockleaze, Southmead, Patchway and The Stokes. The food will be given to people who have been hit by a crisis and are experiencing food poverty.”
How long has the NBFB been running and how many people do you think you’ve helped so far?
“NBFB has been running since 2012 when the foodbank was started by a couple of Churches in Horfield and Filton who saw a real need in their community. Since 2012 we’ve given 3-day emergency food parcels to 20641 people in our area.”
How many people work for the Foodbank – how does it operate?
“We have 2 paid employees and loads of volunteers (around 100 regular volunteers each week and more for one off events).
In general the foodbank works through professionals from our partner organisations (such as advice centres, job centres, school workers, GPs) who identify people in need and issue them with a foodbank voucher, people receive food when they bring their voucher to one of our 5 foodbank outlets.”
What can business and individuals do right now, to help you guys and make a difference?
“We’re also having an extra Christmas push for funding. We have been very fortunate over the years to be given very affordable buildings to store all our food, but now we are looking for somewhere more long term to store our food and this will obviously cost us money. Any financial donations or offers of empty/ unused building space to store food would be incredibly appreciated.”
Can you help? Contact the team at NBFB here: https://northbristol.foodbank.org.uk/contact-us/
What can businesses do to support all year round, rather than just for Christmas appeals?
“In general, we receive a large amount of donations of food over Christmas time, which is incredible. But we often start running low on some items in the summer. Having food collections staggered throughout the year, particularly in the summer, would be amazing for us.” We think a Summer Appeal would be a great idea too and we’d love to get involved!
You have until December 7th to get your food donations for the Reverse Advent Calendar to the team. However, NBFB have lots of other campaigns going on now too – you can see them all here: https://northbristol.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/christmas/ and the Bristol Rovers Matchday Collection – Saturday 8th December: https://northbristol.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/roverscollection/
This is how easy it is!!
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