Nantwich Food Festival volunteers are urging locals to help Nantwich Foodbank support their clients again this Christmas.
They are staging a Drop-Off & Go event at Brine Leas School in Nantwich on Saturday November 25, between 10am-1pm.
It is the fourth year the Festival has organised the event as donations can make a big difference to struggling families at Christmas.
Maureen Coulter, organiser, said: “The cost of living crisis has meant that we all face higher bills and difficult choices, but no one in our community should have to face going hungry.
“Even before the current crisis, 1 in 5 of the general population lived below the poverty line.
“However the Nantwich Foodbank tells us that while demand for their services is rising, donations are falling due to the cost of living crisis.
“The Foodbank is asking local people to create a Reverse Advent Calendar.
“When this concept was first floated in 2020, it seemed a complex idea, but it worked well, and we know it helped support many Foodbank clients thanks to the generosity of residents.
“If you are able to create your Reverse Advent Calendar for the Foodbank, please collect one of the much-needed items each day in November.
“If this isn’t possible, please just donate what you can; even an extra couple of tins of food and a small gift from each household will mean that together we can help to support those in the greatest need.”
Damien Gear, Nantwich Foodbank Manager, added: “As a society, we face the worst economic challenges that many of us have seen in our lifetime, both now and in the coming months and years – high fuel costs and high interest rates mean that many more people are struggling to put nutritious food on the table; the current wars elsewhere in the world have only worsened food supplies.
“Those members of our community whom we support, many of whom are children, will experience even greater hardship in the coming winter months when their parents have to make the difficult choice between heating or eating.
“We still aim to support these individuals and families to ensure that hunger will not be one of their hardships.
“With Christmas fast approaching we are now planning in the hope that everyone in our community can celebrate and enjoy Christmas.
“Once again the fantastic Nantwich Food Festival team has offered to support us by organising another “Drop-Off and Go”.
“As a Foodbank, we are very thankful to have the support of both the Food Festival team and the people of Nantwich and the surrounding area.
“We hope that you will continue to support us in helping the most vulnerable people in our community over the coming months in the lead up to Christmas.”
Maureen added: “Residents from Nantwich and those from the surrounding area are renowned for their generosity, so it will be great to see what we can do together again for those in need.
“We thank Brine Leas School sincerely for their support in permitting us to use their car park for the Drop-off and Go event on 25th November.”
The Foodbank is unable to accept:
Dairy, meat or fish, fresh fruit or vegetables, items that require refrigeration, half-used or open packets, anything past its best before/use by date, anything alcoholic or bleach.
Not sure how you not managed to notice the collection baskets at Morrisons , Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer plus collections at local churches and schools.
last time I tried to drop off stuff at one of these meetings they had gone home, not so much a drop and go rather a drop and gone!
What you need is more shops with a basket at the door, pubs, offices, libraries, council offices, pubs, restaurants, cafes, churches, I can only think of two places in town with this idea, Nationwide and Aldi, pretty poor marketing on this really you need to buck up your ideas