The Felixstowe Magazine - 2021

Page 16

The BASIC Life Charity

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY EVERY STE

Local charity providing needed aid and support The BASIC Life Charity have been meeting the needs of Felixstowe, Walton, Trimley and Kirton residents for over 20 years. In addition to the two traditional charity shops, in Walton and Felixstowe town centre, the charity has emerged as one of the most dependable in times of crisis. We have assisted innumerable local individuals and groups over the years and continue to do so through these difficult times. During the pandemic lockdown BASIC were the only charity to keep its shops open (as emergency resource centres) and were the focal point for those in need of food and support. Requests for assistance were received 24 hours a day and the average response time throughout was less than 30 minutes.

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The Felixstowe Magazine - 2021

Among many innovative and new initiatives, the charity were the inventors of the much-acclaimed BASIC Community Pop-up Shops. These break the traditional food bank rules and allow food collected from supermarkets and others to be redistributed without any kind of means test or referral. The idea has caught the imagination of many senior figures including Bishops, M.P.’s and others. The charity has been involved in round table talks in Westminster to explain how the idea can be expanded further. We now run four BASIC Community Pop-up shops per week in Felixstowe with an additional evening once a fortnight. In more recent times we have moved into supporting the people of Ipswich with the same model. For a small, independent charity this is quite a project, but we now operate from six different locations in the town covering most places of extreme need.


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