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Charity Tandem Skydive in aid of
Gloucester Foodbank
We
are a faith based charity that provides emergency food parcels (i.e. 10
nutritious meals) to local people in crisis via a voucher system. The vouchers
are issued by 63 agencies across Gloucester. They range from Age UK, Children’s
Centres, Primary schools, to The Royal British Legion. The parcels made up of
non-perishable items are given free of charge to individuals and families who
lack funds to buy food. The lack of funds has many causes such as the sudden
onset of sickness, bereavement or loss of employment.
Nationally, 1 in 5 low income families report skipping meals and children living
in single parent families are twice as likely to go without food. Many of our
clients are referred to us because of family breakdown. For example, a father
was referred to the Foodbank as the mother had left the family home. Unable to
work because one of his children had a severe disability he had sold many items
including some of the children’s’ toys to make ends meet. Any benefits such as
Child Benefit and D.L.A for the disabled child had stopped. Eventually, he ran
out of money and things to sell to raise funds. We were able to ensure that his
children and he had enough food for 3 days while the agency helped him to sort
out his finances.
The Adult Social Care Unit in Gloucester Royal Hospital has requested food
parcels for some patients mostly elderly about to be discharged. In another case
a Carer rang on behalf of a terminally ill patient who no longer able to work
and had run out of money after paying the bills. We were able to supply the
patient with an emergency food parcel adapted to suit the dietary needs.
Food is donated by the people of Gloucester via Supermarket Collections, Schools
and churches at Harvest Festival time. Some companies will do an occasional
collection. At Christmas organisations and individuals will bring in food. Over
21 churches and some individuals donate to us on a regular basis throughout the
year.
We are run by volunteers and one part-time paid manager. Our volunteers are
mostly people who have retired or work part time, including 2 people with
learning disabilities.
We need funds to cWe need funds to continue to further develop the service empowering more
volunteers thus enabling us to collect more food and expand to meet current and
growing demands from local people in crisis. If you wish to know more about the
charity:
Web address: www.food-bank.org.uk
E-mail: info@food-bank.org.uk
Tel: 01452 309683
Charity No: 1113515
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