Emergency: 07749 322 291
Email: help@exmouthfoodbank.org.uk
November 2023 saw a slight drop in demand for use of the Food Bank when compared to the same period last year. This in part reflects the impact of the £300 cost of living payments that were received by those on benefits early in November. However, as the build up to Christmas has begun, numbers have unfortunately started to rise again and in the first week of December we distributed 88 parcels to feed 224 people. It is a salutary moment when we open the door to our afternoon sessions and see the queue now extending to the end of Sheppards Row.
Undaunted, our amazing supporters have rallied and items to fill our hampers to spread some festive joy have come pouring in. THANK YOU TO YOU ALL. A special mention also goes to Topsham and the congregation of St Margaret’s Church. We appreciate the support you have given us all year and apologise for missing you out of our thank you list last month. You are superstars!
As a team we are conscious of the need to spread information about food poverty and to break down the stigma about seeking help. We regularly hold active sessions with young people who visit the Food Bank, roll up their sleeves and get stuck in with sorting and packing food parcels. We even get some dividing up bags of dog food!
In November we were visited by a group of local Beavers and the Ethos group from Withycombe Primary School. We also went to Bicton College to talk to students about our work and to receive a generous donation of food.
Thanks to your generosity our festive hampers are being packed - so we are now turning our attention to replenishing our core stock ready for the New Year. We would really appreciate donations of items such as soup, meat meals in tins, jars of pasta sauce, pasta, tinned fish and tinned fruit.
Keep an eye on our website (www.exmouthfoodbank.org.uk) and Facebook page for updates. We also regularly post items that we are short of on the BanktheFood app.
We appreciate your support and couldn’t do this without you!
Exmouth Food Bank has been invited to join the Christmas Village that will be located on the Strand. We will have a drop bin in the main marquee from Friday 15 December to Friday 22 December which will focus on collecting winter basics.
We will also be staffing a stall at the Village on Thursday 21 December from 10.00am to 2.00pm, so come along and meet us. For more information visit: https://www.christmasvillageexmouth.co.uk/
