A Message from Medway Food Bank

Hello to all our Supporters,

Thank you all for your much-needed ongoing support of Medway Foodbank and for the terrific donations you made over the last few weeks – these all go directly towards helping those who are not having such a good time at the moment. Sadly, the current news is indicating that many more could have insufficient funds to be able to buy food this year. We have already experienced over a 100% increase in those needing our support since pre-Covid. This means that the stock levels of many items that we supply to those in crisis are under strain, and that this strain will increase as cost-of-living increases continue. In order for us to be able to continue to offer the same level of support to those facing a time of financial crisis, we continue to need your help.

The items that we currently urgently need are on the attached stock shortage or ‘shopping’ list. Long ‘best before dates’ (e.g. 2 months or more) are essential in order to avoid waste. Items on our shopping list can be purchased and donated at the large Tesco (Strood and Gillingham) and Asda (Chatham and Gillingham Pier) stores in Medway, plus Co-op Walderslade and Morrison’s Strood. You can also hunt for items using the Spareable app, although you may not find all the items on Spareable. If you wish to deliver items directly to our warehouse or need items to be collected, please call or email our office first on 01634 757057 (Tues – Fri) or info@medway.foodbank.org.uk to arrange a slot. If you receive the answerphone when you call, please do leave a message and we will call you back to arrange a slot for your delivery or collection. Please do not just turn up as we want to keep everyone safe and you may have a wasted journey.

Medway Foodbank only works with non-perishable food items (tinned and dried goods), which do not spoil or decay, i.e. not fresh, chilled or “use by” dated items. All items should be unopened, in date (i.e. within the “best before date” or BBD) and in good condition. This means that neither the foodbank nor the recipient has to worry about storing the food in a fridge or freezer, and there is less likelihood of food going to waste. It also means that we can give each client a food parcel that contains three days’ worth of nutritionally balanced food, as well as provide some small treats to help brighten their lives, particularly those of the many children we help to support. We also take non-food items such as toiletries and cleaning products, as these are also needed by the clients who come to us.

If you are unable to help us by donating food but are able to donate funds, we would be very grateful as we are facing huge increases in running costs and also we currently need to buy some stock items to meet the demand. Funds can be donated via the red ‘Donate’ button on our website: www.medway.foodbank.org.uk, or use the QR code link on the attached lists - this will take you to our Golden Giving page.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND SUPPORT - we are supporting hundreds of people in need each week and we will need your ongoing support throughout this year. We cannot do this without your fantastic support.

Kind regards,

Medway Foodbank