The number of people using Witney Foodbank is likely to increase as the cost of living crisis continues to bite and people struggle to pay household bills and find sufficient money to feed themselves, their children and their pets.
Over recent months, thanks to the generosity of people living in and around Witney and the support of local companies, the Witney Foodbank is prepared for the autumn months but know that in order to ensure they have sufficient supplies and funding to get them through the darkest months of winter, your continued support is vital. According to figures supplied by the Trussell Trust, foodbank support for pensioner households is rapidly increasing; the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have also reported that there has been a sharp increase in the number of pensions facing destitution nationally although these figures are still relatively small in proportion to the total destitute population.
This evidence provides an early warning sign that the increase in poverty amongst pensions is leading to significant increases in severe hardship amongst this group. For those pensions who are not going to continue receiving the Winter Fuel Payment, but who have limited savings, they are going to find this winter particularly hard and may need to turn to a foodbank for the first time.
Since 2018/19, the number of families using a foodbank has increased by 34%, reflecting the long-term rise in levels of deep poverty, compounded by increasing number of people experiencing financial hardship due to the cost of living crisis. The incomes of people who are now referred to a foodbank for the first time differs from those previously referred.
Chair of Trustees at Witney Foodbank, Mick Morris is incredibly grateful for the support they have received this year. “We recently held a food drive at Sainsbury’s in Witan Way which resulted in a huge haul of food thanks to the generosity of the local Witney community. I had a couple of conversations with concerned pensioners about what lies ahead this winter. I suspect it's going to be another hard winter for people, but we are ready. Not only with food but fuel vouchers and cooking equipment for those who may not want to use the oven or indeed the hob. As always, people need a referral, or we'd be overwhelmed with demand.”
A number of Witney companies have been supporting the Foodbank throughout 2024 and the team would like to extend their sincerest thanks to them for both the financial donations and food donations.
Organisers of this year’s Witney Motor Show the Witney Motor Club, held on 4 July on the Henry Box playing field, very kindly named Witney Foodbank as the main beneficiary of the event. Mick and Sam from the Foodbank went along with buckets in hand, collecting donations as people entered. The total donated by WMC plus donations collected on the day came to exactly £1,000.
Amongst those traders who have been supporting the people using the Foodbank is The Three Horseshoes in Corn Street. In May they gave the Foodbank 100 vouchers for them to give out to their clients for a free roast dinner. On Sunday 7 July, the historic pub closed their doors to the public and along with a team of their own volunteers, they served 91 people a free roast dinner and dessert, as well as delivering roast dinners to families who could not make it. It was a wonderful event, with many of our foodbank families expressing their gratitude to have redeemed a little bit of normality back into their lives and overjoyed to have had something to look forward to.
As if the free roast dinners weren’t enough, the team at The Three Horseshoes are also provided the Foodbank with free lunches for children over the Summer Holidays. Every day Tommy dropped off 8 freshly made packed lunches for the Foodbank to give to any of their families so the children could have a full meal. The bags included a sandwich, crisps, an apple, a chocolate brownie and a juice box.
Other companies offering their support include ‘A House of Brands’ who donate 10% of their monthly sales to the Foodbank. In July this amounted to £718.31 which was enough to buy ten family parcels and feed thirty to forty people.
At the beginning of the year, Just Right Autos launched an incentive for their customers where with every MOT done at their garage, they would donate £1 to the Foodbank. After 6 months, they managed to collect £1473, which is enough to buy us at least 20 parcels.
Howden Insurance (formerly A Plan Insurance) have been supporting the Foodbank for nearly a whole year now. They have a donation location in their Witney branch but also ran a two week long food drive in May. Mayfield Eggs have very kindly donated the eggs that are too small to be sold. These eggs are between 40-42.9g and are laid by their youngest hens. They may be small, but they are still just as nutritious and tasty (they make a great scrambled egg). They have agreed to donate a case of 180 small eggs a week.
The Foodbank has also received a donation from Blenheim Palace. Thanks to a film crew being at the Palace, they had 900kg of excess food which they kindly donated to the Foodbank.
Oxford Vapours, located on Mill Walk near the Methodist Church, made a promotional video which followed Dan & Taylor around Sainsburys, collecting enough donations to fill up their car. They ended up donating 200kgs worth of food and even helped weigh it in. If you would like to watch their video and see the shining stars of a Thursday Crew in action, here’s the link: youtube.com/watch?v=fKNwEq8d32k&list=LL
If you are a local company or organisation, or an individual, and would like to support Witney Food Bank there are several ways you can get involved:
Financial donations are more important than ever as they enable the food bank to buy supplies that are needed at wholesale prices from a local distributor. Even those wholesale prices have risen dramatically by 30% since the start of April 2022. You can make a financial donation by visiting totalgiving.co.uk/donate/witney-and-west-oxfordshire-food-bank
Food donations, either at one of the supermarket collection points or even better, brought directly into the food bank centre. Please ensure that the items are non-perishable, in-date and will help to provide a minimum of three days nutritionally balanced food and essentials such as toiletries, toilet paper, along with dog and cat food. Although there is a fridge and deepfreeze which is stocked each week thanks to the generosity of Jolly Foods in Carterton, ambient food storage in the warehouse is limited. Essential items which are running low each week and need to be restocked can be found on the Witney and West Oxfordshire Food Bank Facebook and Instagram pages. Stock items include breakfast cereals, tinned soup, beans, tinned vegetables and meat/fish, tinned fruit, tea/coffee/hot chocolate, pasta, rice, pasta sauces, sugar, biscuits and snacks alongside sanitary products and toiletries.
Volunteering with the food bank will give you the opportunity to work with other like-minded people who are the driving force behind running the food bank so effectively. There is a great team spirit and whilst the volunteers only work in small groups, new friends are made whilst they are doing essential work. There are various roles that people can get involved in so if you would like to be considered or have particular skills or ideas that you think could prove useful, email jade@witney.foodbank.org.uk or fill out the contact form on their website, changing the drop-down menu to ‘Apply to Volunteer’ at witney.foodbank.org.uk/contact-us.
To find out more about how you can support Witney Food Bank or if you need support yourself simply visit witney.foodbank.org.uk | Facebook- Witney and West Oxfordshire Food Bank | Instagram - wwofoodbank
