A South Derbyshire food bank has appealed for more donations after seeing an increase in the number of desperate needing to use food parcels.
South Derbyshire CVS hands out free food supplies to people who are struggling to put food on the table. The service offers free emergency food parcels to families and individuals across South Derbyshire.
The appeal has come after the service saw a 30 per cent increase in the number of people needing emergency food supplies in the last three months. Between January and June this year, 223 emergency food parcels have been given out to people across the area, said a spokesman.
It also operates a community fridge, where members of the public can pick up unwanted chilled food for free every weekday from 10am until 3pm.
Now the CVS is appealing for staple foods that can be used in numerous recipes, such as potatoes, pasta sauces and tins of tuna or corned beef. The service, which also receives donations from local suppliers, often shares stocks with other charities in the area.
The service is also appealing for donations of toiletries, such as toothpastes, shower gels and sanitary products, which it finds people struggling to eat are also without. These items can often be overlooked, but the need for them is growing, said a spokesman.
Direct services manager at the service, Karen Mitchell, 58, said: “Many people might think it is people who are unemployed or on benefits that are using these donations, but we’re seeing there are now more and more people from all walks of life who are needing support.
“I saw on the news this morning about a lady who had to use food banks and she was a young single parent working 16 hours a week.”
All sorts of food can be donated, varying from tinned foods to fresh foods – something that many people may not think can be donated due to a short shelf life. Donations can be dropped off at local shops across South Derbyshire, such as the Co-op in Stapenhill, Sainbury’s Local in Midway or at the library in Swadlincote. The full list of drop-off locations in available on the service’s website.
Mrs Mitchell said: “We usually receive a lot of donations in October after the harvest festival and after Christmas, when people have a lot of excess food and are feeling generous.
“We’re extremely grateful for the donations, but at this time of the year we find our stocks are a bit depleted and we really need some more donations.”
What food can you donate?
South Derbyshire CVS is appealing for more donations, and urging anyone who may have an excess of these foods to think about donating them. The service is particularly interested in donations of:
- UHT milk
- Tea bags and coffee
- Biscuits
- Pasta, rice and noodles
- Pasta and curry sauces
- Jam, peanut butter, chocolate spread, marmite and marmalade
- Tins of food such as fruit, meat, fish, soup and rice pudding
- Breakfast cereals
- Fruit juice or squash
- Pet food
- Toiletries such as shampoo, shower gel, razors and toilet rolls.
Feed Our Families appeal
In the run up to the Christmas period the Burton Mail ran a hugely successful Feed Our Families appeal. We asked readers to donate food like tinned items and pasta so that families struggling in Burton and South Derbyshire did not go without. We had thousands of items handed in by generous readers and were able to help food bank operations on Burton and Swadlicote. Christmas 2016 was the third year the campaign was run and each time it had gone from strength to strength.
