19 Dec Colchester Foodbank get Shed-loads of help this Christmas from local businesses
Colchester Foodbank get Shed-loads of help this Christmas from Leeds Building Society Foundation and Kent Blaxill!
December is the busiest time of year for the Foodbank and it only gets busier as we get closer to Christmas.
To help the Foodbank cope with growing demand year on year it has raised money and support for a shed to store empty crates at normal times and at our busiest times to provide much needed storage for the Foodbank.
Gary Brook, Head of Corporate Communication at Leeds Building Society and a Foundation trustee said: “Colchester Foodbank is dedicated to providing services to people in need in the community.
“We’re committed to investing in the areas where our members and colleagues live and work. Our grant will be used to improve facilities at the Foodbank to allow its volunteers to help even more people, particularly at Christmas, a time of year that can be difficult.”
Monica Hartley from Kent Blaxill builders’ merchant said “It was great that the company were able to support the Foodbank with timber for its new shed. All the staff have been so generous with their food donations it was good to know that their storage issues would be helped too.”
Michael Beckett, Foodbank Manager at Colchester Foodbank said: “Food comes into the Foodbank in an uneven flow and in irregular instalments, all food donations are absolutely required and are soon handed out. However, we do need to hold stock so that we don’t run out at busier times and to store the Christmas and Harvest surplus.
“A £673 grant from Leeds Building Society Foundation has enabled us to purchase a much needed new Yardmaster shed to store essential donations. Kent Blaxill Limited has also been a keen supporter of Colchester Foodbank, inviting staff to make a Christmas food collection of 130kg, plus buying 6 of our £10 Bricks from our Be a Brick, Buy a Brick campaign and donating timber to enable us to complete our project with a floor for our new shed.
“Volunteers at the Foodbank and those who use our service would like to pass on an enormous thank you to both Kent Blaxill and Leeds Building Society Foundation for the much-needed support and funding provided.
“This shed is a short-term solution and we are working hard to raise a deposit to buy our own Food HQ premises. Our greatest single cost to the charity is our rented warehouse and to help raise funds for a deposit we’ve launched our Food HQ fund, which has so far raised £34,074 towards a deposit for a mortgage.
“We have a wall of gratitude at the foodbank and we have asked people to please give £10 to pay for a brick with their name on, on that wall in our, ‘Be a brick, buy a brick’ campaign.”
