We’ve made donations to eight foodbanks this month to help local families and households in the communities where our customers live.
December is a demanding time for foodbanks with the added pressure of Christmas and colder weather on people’s pockets, so we’ve worked with our Tenancy Support team to see how we could best help.
Our Tenancy Support team often refers customers to foodbanks, and they’ve already completed over 100 referrals to them since the start of this financial year. We reviewed which ones the team uses most to ensure the donations were likely to reach our customers, as well as the wider community. The foodbanks we’ve made a donation to are:
• South Normanton Area Foodbank (Trussell Trust)
• Salcare, Heanor
• St Andrews Church foodbank, Langley Mill
• Oscari, Riddings
• Hope for Belper
• Salvation Army, Ripley
• Daventry Foodbank (Southbrook)
• Restore Northampton
Janene Haywood, Community Engagement Project Delivery Officer at Futures said: “Some of these foodbanks are the only ones in the area and are relied upon by many. Research by the Trussell Trust shows the average foodbank bag costs between £40 and £100, so it’s lovely to know we’ve been able to give something back.”
We’ve made a payment of £250 to each foodbank, which was possible thanks to a donation we receive from Efficiency East Midlands (EEM) to spend on our communities.
EEM invited Futures to its recent community Christmas event, organised for local businesses to bring food and toiletries donations which they would then split between two foodbanks. All businesses were able to collectively raise a whopping four tonnes of donations, as well as £2,000. These donations were the single most amount the foodbanks had ever received in one go and will provide food and goods for up to four months.
Janene added: “As a not-for-profit housing association, donations and funding are so important to help us achieve our goals of giving back to the community, so we’re very thankful for EEM’s generosity.”
