B R E A K FA ST WITH C H A M PI O N S
“I wasn’t aware of the extent of work that food banks do” Asda community champion Emma Riley catches up with St Austell Food Bank manager Andy Payne over breakfast WORDS JESSICA CARTER PHOTOGRAPHS OLIVER EDWARDS
People are very much at the heart of what we do. Each issue, we’re sitting down with one of our special partners to have a well-deserved cuppa and a chat about how we work together to support our local communities.
gave out 53% more vouchers – which equates to feeding 63% more people – than the same period last year.
Emma: Working with your team [at St Austell Food Bank] over the last few years has been great – until I started helping out, I wasn’t aware of the extent of the work that food banks do.
Andy: There’s actually been a decline in donations recently. We’re alright for the likes of tinned meat and veg, soup, pasta, beans and cereal, but we need tinned tomatoes, tinned fruit, custard, coffee and jam, and instant noodles that you only need to boil a kettle to make. And then there are the little treats, like crisps and chocolate – they can make all the difference.
Andy: There’s a lot more to it than dishing out food! We want to find out about the issues that cause people to need the food bank in the first place. The hope is that, if we do our jobs well, people won’t need to come back. Emma: I’ve noticed we’ve been a lot busier this year. The rising cost of living probably has something to do with it; more people are having to choose between feeding their family and putting the heating on. We’ve also been welcoming Ukrainian refugees. Andy: I recently looked at some stats, and between April and July this year we 94 | ASDA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2022
Emma: Wow, that’s a lot of people. Are donations keeping up with the demand?
Emma: So, Asda has a permanent collection point in the St Austell store – the trolley near the entrance – which customers drop donations into. How’s that going – have you collected much? Andy: Shoppers are always generous. In the first half of this year, we collected about three tonnes of food from that trolley. For sleepy little St Austell, with everything that’s going on with the cost of living, that’s pretty impressive.
Thanks to Sam’s Diner at Par for an excellent breakfast
