When a tin of beans and a loo roll make a big difference . . .

North Cotswold Foodbank is calling on the community to get behind Harvest Festival and Food Bank Fortnight and support people who cannot afford to put food on the table.

Our organisation, run almost entirely by volunteers, gives out more than 1,700 emergency food parcels a year to more than 4,000 individuals, and the need shows no sign of diminishing.

This autumn in particular, when harvest festival is in full swing, we are appealing to shoppers, schools, businesses and community groups to donate what they can in the form of food and household essentials or cash.

“You have no idea what a difference a tin of beans and a few loo rolls can make to someone whose cupboards are empty,” said Alexia Monroe who has been a volunteer with the food bank since it was set up in 2011.

“Cotswold villages are very pretty but in a rural community there is huge poverty and often little to support people living on the breadline,” she added.

“Most of the available jobs are low-paid in hospitality, tourism and agriculture with unsocial hours. So you need a car. And if the washing machine breaks down or there’s a vet’s bill or you lose your job, there’s no spare money to tide you over.

“Take a village like Aston Magna – it’s very difficult to walk anywhere. There are two bus shelters (but not many buses), no church, no pub, no shop, no community hall, a grand house on one side of the road and a housing estate on the other. If you’re on a tight budget and your car fails its MoT, you’re stuffed.

“One big bill can set a family on a downhill slope and the next thing they know, the food cupboard is bare.”

That’s where North Cotswold Foodbank comes in. Based in Guiting Power, we have seven distribution centres between Chipping Campden and Bishop’s Cleeve.

As well as providing enough food and essentials intended to support a family for three days, we also provide a Citizens Advice service at each of our centres.

“There is help out there for people in need but most people don’t know where to find it so our Citizens Advice team play a vital role in helping to get their finances back on track,” said Alexia.

“Some people come to us once in a blue moon – usually when they’ve landed a big bill or the kids need new shoes and the wages don’t cover it. Many people who come to the food bank are distressed and vulnerable.”

What Alexia and her fellow-volunteers would like people to do – not just in Food Bank Fortnight, but whenever they go shopping – is to remember to add a few food items to the donation bins at the supermarket checkout, especially at Tesco and the Co-0p. The items we’re short of are always changing and you can see a list of what we most need on our website here.

You can also make cash donations via our website: https://northcotswold.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/

“We are very grateful to all our donors who keep us afloat. Thank you for recognising that rural poverty isn’t a myth – it’s a harsh reality and it’s on our doorstep,” concludes Alexia.

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