Salisbury Foodbank thanks Co-Op members for keeping van on road
Supermarkets across the South have raised £75,000 for local foodbanks
Southern Co-operative members have been thanked after raiding over £75,000 to help foodbanks and those who rely on them across the region.
The money raised will be shared between 75 foodbanks that are currently supported by customers goods donations in Co-op, including Salisbury Foodbank.
Maria Stevenson, Salisbury Foodbank Manager, said:
"Thank you so much for this offering and supporting Salisbury foodbank.
"There are a couple of projects within Salisbury foodbank where funding is essential, for example, keeping our van on the road. Our van is on the road five days a week. With such a large outreach area and increase and fluctuations in fuel prices, we are spending in excess of £100 a month in fuel cost. £900 would go some way to support this lifeline for our charity.
"Another project to benefit from funding is our Citizen Advice Case worker. Since October as a pilot scheme we have been funding a case worker in our main foodbank setting in Salisbury.
"This pilot is working exceptionally well and with further funding we aspire to expand the service to reach even more people. The main aim of this project is to help someone using the foodbank through advice and advocacy to the extent that they never have to use a foodbank again!"
Between February and December last year, 17,566kgs of goods were donated to foodbanks by customers and members.
Holly Bramble, Southern Co-op's Community Lead, said: "It makes me incredibly proud when I see how much money and food our customers have enabled us to donate to foodbanks. One food bank we spoke to reiterated that every tin of food makes a difference and I have seen this first-hand.
"We know times are tough and many foodbanks have seen donations drop whilst demand increases. So we want to encourage our customers to keep swiping their membership cards but we'd also like to thank all of the people behind the scenes at these foodbanks who make the impossible possible. Thank you."