Clear aims are important for any charity. In our case, our foodbank’s location and small size means we operate in a different way than, for example, a large inner-city foodbank. Because we straddle West and North Yorkshire, we serve a wide range of communities from the urban fringes of Leeds to market towns and rural villages. This presents us with challenges, but also with opportunities to help fulfil the aims of the Trussell Trust in a slightly different way.
Many of our donations come from Wetherby supermarkets such as Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, as well as small shops, churches, schools and groups both in Wetherby and across the wider district. A significant amount, however, come from ‘out of area’ – such as Tesco at Clifton Moor in York. It is the job of our Trustees to determine how best we distribute these donations; how best we honour our donors; and how best we fulfil the Trussell Trust’s ultimate aim and vision of a UK without the need for foodbanks.
So how do we do this? Well, we’ve been moving towards working as a ‘Hub’ foodbank with a three-tiered approach to redistribution. Our first priority remains ensuring there is always food available at our Distribution Centre for local people in crisis. Second, we redistribute some surplus food items to other Trussell Trust foodbanks in our region who are experiencing shortages. Third, we support additional charities within our wider community and beyond – all of whom help feed people in crisis. You can read our foodbank aims here.
Wanting to clarify our position and aims as a Hub foodbank, we recently enlisted the help of Gareth Duffield, one of the Trussell Trust’s Area Managers. Gareth ran a workshop-type meeting with our Trustees, helping them decide upon a clear way forward for the future. He listened to our plans, acknowledged the commitment of our team and confirmed the Trussell Trust’s support.
During the meeting, our Trustees emphasised the importance of making sure that all donors, of both food and finances, are given the opportunity to understand how we use their donations, and we’ll be communicating this (and listening to feedback) in the coming months both here on the website, as well as across social media.
We will, of course, continue to deliver and develop our core foodbank services but will also support other agencies and charities with surplus food when we can. With the full support of the Trussell Trust, our focus will always be towards ending the need for foodbanks, whilst also ensuring that we offer the best possible support while they’re still needed.
Talking to people is always good. While the meeting was incredibly useful to us, we were also pleased to hear Gareth’s appreciation for our involvement in wider influencing work in Leeds, such as a recent cash grants trial. He also expressed an interest in seeing how the relationships we’ve fostered with local independent foodbanks progress. The world has changed a lot in the past two years and we are working hard to ensure Wetherby and District Foodbank remains able to respond to the needs of people in crisis – across the district and beyond.
We will keep you (and Gareth) posted!
