Emergency: 07749 322 291
Email: help@exmouthfoodbank.org.uk
During December we provided 203 parcels which fed 430 people. Demand in December increased from the previous month and we saw 29 new clients coming to us for help during the month.
We also distributed 128 Christmas goodie bags containing festive treats and food items such as mince pies, Christmas puddings and biscuits. These were well received by many grateful clients.
The final statistics for our 2021 activity show that levels of food help required has remained similar to 2020. This is a lot higher than previous, pre-pandemic volumes; in fact, recent levels are over double the annual averages for 2014-2019.
This rise in demand has in part been caused by the effects of COVID-19, but increasingly by the rising cost of food, fuel and utility bills. Often the people who contact us are working but they are on the minimum wage and just can’t quite make ends meet.
In 2021 we supplied a total of 2,177 parcels to feed 4,405 people (final totals in 2020 were 2,315 parcels feeding 4,837 people).
Reflecting on 2021 as a whole we helped over 440 clients (families and individuals) during the year. Over 150 people only used us once; others needed to use us more frequently as we worked with them to access appropriate agencies to address their underlying issues. This is exactly what the Food Bank is for, to support individuals with integrity, providing short term and longer-term assistance as is appropriate.
Now that the festivities are over, we have taken stock of the supplies in store and have reviewed which items we need for the coming months. If you are kind enough to be thinking of making a donation to us in January, we really need the following items now:
Cartons of longlife milk, tinned or packet potatoes, jars of sauce, tins of meat, tins of fish, tinned vegetables, tinned tomatoes, tinned or packet soup, tinned rice pudding or custard, small jars of coffee. Thank you.
We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors, donors and volunteers for their support throughout 2021. We wish you all the very best for a safe and prosperous 2022. You are amazing - we couldn’t do this without you.
