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A Different Christingle 10St Francis Headley Down Food Bank
ST FRANCIS HEADLEY DOWN FOOD BANK St Francis Headley Down Food Bank
Back in July, I reported on how the Food Bank operated. We are now in November, experiencing another lockdown but the work of the Food Bank continues and, to date, we are now helping 50 families with approximately 100 adults and 50 children. The people who need help can come from any walk of life, any area. Some people have lost their jobs because their place of work has closed, some people have been made redundant and some have slipped through the furlough and benefits net due to being self-employed etc. Others just haven’t been able to return to work – gardeners, cleaners etc. –because of lockdowns and folk self-isolating. Builders get laid off work for a week while awaiting delivery of materials to carry on building. Others cannot work because of ill-health and are just about managing on benefits. The reasons why folk need help vary so much. The majority of folk are working, on low incomes. They just about get by but do not qualify for any benefits. They are just managing. A bag of food from the Food Bank is a welcome “top-up”. During the October Half Term we were able to help families who normally have free school meals. We provided each family with Tesco vouchers to help them through the week. If you know anyone who is struggling, who just gets on with it but who would benefit from a little “extra help” each week, please let them know about us and get them to contact me, in confidence. Or maybe you know someone who has fallen on hard times because they have had an unexpected expense to pay and money is going to be tight for a few weeks until next pay day. We can help folk for as long or short a time as they need. If you would like to help us, you can donate food in Sainsbury’s and the Co-op in Grayshott, also at the doctors’ surgery in Grayshott. Lists of suitable items are on the collection boxes, but we are always short of baked beans, pasta and rice, Pasta sauces, biscuits and cereals. If you would like to donate money and support us in that way, please contact me for further details of how to donate.
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