Local Buyers Club gets behind Food Bank with charity push
We’re determined to make a difference in the communities we serve.
That’s why one of our Charities of the Year is Hackney Food Bank. As part of our ongoing commitment to this amazing charity, for the next three days (until Sunday August 6th) for every membership we sell we’ll donate £5 of food to the Food Bank.
Last year Hackney Food Bank fed 3,458 people in crisis, almost a third were children. They help around 70 families a week but many more are in dire need. Many of those they help have no food or money because of issues with their benefits payments – increasingly people in poverty face benefits sanctions if they fail to turn up to a scheduled meeting. That can prove particularly hard for those with mental or physical illness or disabilities.
Basil Fansa, a founder of the Local Buyers Club, said: “This is the first in a series of initiatives to support Hackney Food Bank, a charity we've been supporting through our sister business for many years. It’s win-win, by joining the club people are showing their support for local and independent businesses, saving money and helping to fund vital supplies for those in most need in our community.”
A large number of those helped by the Food Bank are destitute – they have no recourse to public funds, some are awaiting visas and their documents are awaiting assessment from the Home Office so they’re not eligible for benefits.
Colleen Beasley, Project Coordinator at Hackney Food Bank, said: “We’re really looking forward to this new partnership with the Local Buyers Club and reaching out to the wider community. Its sister company StokeyParents has done an amazing job and supported us with food donations and toys at Christmas. We hugely value the contribution they’ve made over the past few years.”
Among the items urgently needed are tinned fruit, tinned vegetables, tinned meat and tinned fish, UHT milk, UHT juice, pasta, custard, cereal, rice pudding, curry sauce, biscuits, coffee, toilet paper, deodorant, shower gel and all-in-one shampoo/conditioner.
People in need are referred to Hackney Food Bank via one of 187 local agencies, including the Citizens Advice Bureau, children’s centres, Hackney Migrant Centre and schools.
For details of where you can drop food donations for Hackney Food Bank visit: https://hackney.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
