Speaker 1: Hello. I'm Ray Lee and this is the Gillingham Podcast
Speaker 1: for anyone living in the Gillingham and Spa area. I'm
Speaker 1: talking to Helen Weaver, who's the project manager of the
Speaker 1: Gillingham Food Bank. Helen, can you tell us about the
Speaker 1: food Bank?
Speaker 2: Hi, nice to meet you. The food Bank started in
Speaker 2: two thousand and eleven, so it's our fifteen year anniversary
Speaker 2: this year, which in some ways is a great thing
Speaker 2: because we've been serving the community for the last fifteen years.
Speaker 2: In other respects, it's not such a great thing that
Speaker 2: we've actually been needed for the last fifteen years. So
Speaker 2: it's yeah, double yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: And how long have you been associated.
Speaker 2: With So I started nearly two and a half years
Speaker 2: ago and took over from a volunteer who'd been very
Speaker 2: capably running the food bank for the last ten years.
Speaker 2: So it's been quite a steep learning curve for me
Speaker 2: because it's not like anything else.
Speaker 1: I've ever done. So how is it funded?
Speaker 2: So we apply for various grants. We have grants from
Speaker 2: Dorset County Council fairly often, and some businesses donate to us,
Speaker 2: some local businesses. We have a lovely band of very
Speaker 2: generous donors who donate on a regular basis, on a
Speaker 2: monthly basis, and we also have one off gifts from
Speaker 2: various different donors and local businesses also, so the.
Speaker 1: Donations they can be a combination of financial and actual
Speaker 1: practical items.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, and when we need specific items because we've
Speaker 2: run low, we're able to use those funds that we've
Speaker 2: been donated as finances to make up the difference.
Speaker 1: So wind the package is just like a set amount
Speaker 1: of different things. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: We're part of the trustle Trust, and they give us
Speaker 2: a list of food that is nutritionally based to offer
Speaker 2: three days emergency food for either a family or for
Speaker 2: a single person, and we have a list that we
Speaker 2: work to that they suggest who can use the bank,
Speaker 2: so anybody can use that, but anybody in need can
Speaker 2: use the bank. We take referrals from a vast range
Speaker 2: of different voluntary and statutory organizations, so doctors, social workers,
Speaker 2: health visitors, housing, mental health. Yeah, a huge number of
Speaker 2: other organizations can refer to us, and we also have
Speaker 2: a team of volunteers who go through some of the
Speaker 2: referral process. If people turn up and refer themselves, we
Speaker 2: then go through a list of questions and eligibility but
Speaker 2: also that enables us to make sure that we are
Speaker 2: meeting as many people's needs as we possibly can, because
Speaker 2: we realize that food, although it's essential, is a sticky
Speaker 2: blaster and the reason why a lot of people need
Speaker 2: the food is because something else is going on and
Speaker 2: there's underlying problems. So we finance citizens advice Advisor who
Speaker 2: work with us at the Food Bank that we can
Speaker 2: refer people too and people can have conversations with them,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of other agencies that we could
Speaker 2: signpost people to as well to help with more of
Speaker 2: their needs and undernying issues.
Speaker 1: Can somebody just turn up knock on the door if
Speaker 1: they're in need or do they have to go through
Speaker 1: the GP.
Speaker 2: Or they can just turn up on the door on
Speaker 2: a Monday or a Thursday when we're open. We're open
Speaker 2: from ten till twelve on a Monday morning at Thursday
Speaker 2: morning and our distribution center is at Gillingham Community Church
Speaker 2: in the High Street in between the pharmacy and Dominos,
Speaker 2: and people can just turn up and then they will
Speaker 2: be have a session with our sign posting volunteers who
Speaker 2: can go through issues with them.
Speaker 1: Have you found the need the usage? You know the
Speaker 1: amount of people coming in. Has that increased over the years.
Speaker 2: It's definitely increased over the years in the last five years,
Speaker 2: apart from a spike in twenty twenty three twenty four
Speaker 2: when the initial prices went up with the gas and
Speaker 2: electric and what have you, we had a big spike.
Speaker 2: Then we went up to an average of about three
Speaker 2: just over three thousand emergency food parcels that we gave
Speaker 2: out in a year. But apart from that, the last
Speaker 2: six years it's been round about two thousand emergency food
Speaker 2: parcels in a year.
Speaker 1: So what's the areas do you cover them?
Speaker 2: So we cover a tenmile radius around Gillingham. We overlap
Speaker 2: with a few other places. For example, we give some
Speaker 2: of our emergency food boxes to carry Cares in Castle Carey,
Speaker 2: but they also have their own free larder as well.
Speaker 2: We also give some of our emergency food boxes to
Speaker 2: Open House in Shastbury and again they have other services
Speaker 2: and resources available as well.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned volunteers, I assume it's it's basically all volunteers.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yes, I am the only person that's paid. Everybody
Speaker 2: else is volunteers and we have a fantastic team of
Speaker 2: really committed volunteers.
Speaker 1: So I assume you're you're you're always under lookout for.
Speaker 2: Volunteers were there is a certain amount of turnover with volunteers.
Speaker 2: At the moment, our biggest need is for someone to
Speaker 2: help us with our social media and online presence. We're
Speaker 2: desperately looking for someone who could help us with that.
Speaker 1: Somebody wanted to help you out and come and volunteer
Speaker 1: and off of their services. What's the best way to
Speaker 1: get in touch?
Speaker 2: So the best way to get in touch is to
Speaker 2: email me and the email address is info I NFO
Speaker 2: at Gillingham dot Foodbank dot org, RG dot UK. Right.
Speaker 1: And people if they want to food items, I know
Speaker 1: there are places that a lot of the local supermarkets, but
Speaker 1: can they just bring them to the distribution center?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Yes, We're open on Monday and Thursday from ten
Speaker 2: till twelve. They can either bring food to the distribution
Speaker 2: center at Gillingham Community Church or they can come to
Speaker 2: Paris Court where our food store is at the same
Speaker 2: time between ten and twelve on a Monday or a
Speaker 2: Thursday to donate food directly to us. All of our
Speaker 2: signs on the donation bins in the supermarket have also
Speaker 2: got a QR code on them which people can go
Speaker 2: on or they can go directly onto our website if
Speaker 2: they wish to donate money, and we would really.
Speaker 1: Appreciate it if people do that.
Speaker 2: If they could gift aid it as well, so that
Speaker 2: we can claim that money back from the government.
Speaker 1: That's lovely. Okay, well, thank you very much for your
Speaker 1: time this morning. No worries. Thank you. If you're a
Speaker 1: member of a group or organization that would like to
Speaker 1: be featured on the future Killingham Podcast, then you can
Speaker 1: email me at Killingham Podcast at gmail dot com. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening. O