Community
THANK YOU FROM SHERBORNE FOOD BANK Kane and Julie Clements, Sherborne Food Bank
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or the Sherborne Food Bank, this has been a year like no other. So, thank you to everyone who has helped in some way to keep the food bank on track. Thanks to every one of the generous people who have donated goods or cash. Thanks to the businesses providing collection points and other support, and the individuals and groups who have started new collections to support our work. This is also a chance to update everyone on how we have responded to the recent challenges. Like many other organisations, we have had to change the way we work to keep the show on the road. When the first lockdown started, many of our volunteers had to stand down from their work at the food bank to self-isolate. This came at a time when we were confronted by a spike in demand – way beyond anything seen before. And changes in working practices had to be made to keep volunteers safe. By reducing the number of volunteers in the depot at any one time and increasing the number of shifts, we have kept things going. We have had to examine working practices and make some changes to improve our efficiency. Also, welcome to some of our new drop off points. There is now a basket in the Co-Op at Milborne Port 22 | Sherborne Times | May 2021
Image: Katharine Davies
and by the time this appears in print, there will be a shiny new collection point in the foyer of Dikes in Stalbridge. Recently, regular collections have started in Yetminster and Marston Magna, which is good news. These new locations show just how big an area our food bank covers. Whilst it says Sherborne on the label, we support people in a much wider area. Perhaps the most ‘stand-out’ thing from the last year has been the continued generosity of you, the people, enabling us to deliver food to those in need. As for demand? Well, it has been ‘all over the shop’. More people have needed our support this year, for obvious reasons, and there have been frequent fluctuations. When we build up reserves of some stock, they can run down very quickly when demand peaks again. You can help us manage our stock by checking out what we need most via the wipe boards at donation points and by checking the Sherborne Food Bank Facebook page. And one more thing. We have plenty of tins of baked beans and soup and bags of dried pasta! We really need to reduce stocks of these items as storage is limited. Until we ask specifically for those items, please donate other things we need more urgently. Thank you. sherbornefoodbank.org
