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Spring 2016
“The Eat Well Spend Less course has been a life saver.� Meet Judith and find out more on page 7
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“When I left the foodbank centre, I had a lot more hope for my future.” A foodbank client
It’s comments like this that remind me why I do this job. Like so many of my colleagues, I am passionate about this charity and its ability to bring people together to stop UK hunger. In my seven years with The Trussell Trust, I’ve seen so much progress – and that gives me hope for the future too.
Despite all this work however, there are still so many men, women and children going to bed hungry. But with your help, we’ll keep reaching out to more and more people in crisis, transforming their lives and helping them on their journey out of food poverty. Together, we can stop UK hunger.
None of this would be possible without the incredible volunteers and supporters like you who help The Trussell Trust, through its network of foodbanks, shops and social enterprises, to reach out to people and help them break the cycle of poverty.
Thank you for your continued support. You’re changing lives and giving hope to people when they might otherwise have none.
We’re very grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for their recent donation which will help Trussell Trust to provide extra services ranging from welfare and housing advice to courses on cooking on a budget. Our financial triage and debt advice pilot in foodbanks has delivered some really positive results and we’re able now to roll this service out to more communities, thanks to a generous donation from Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert. We’ve been busy training foodbanks to run our cookery and budgeting course, Eat Well Spend Less which, as you’ll read in the following pages, has been delivering some great results. More foodbanks are being trained every week!
David McAuley - Chief Executive
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News in brief
Number of three-day emergency food supplies given to people in crisis. Apr 2014 - Apr 2015
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A recipe for success How Eat Well Spend Less helped Judith
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Apr 2013 - Apr 2014
Building on hope Read Paul’s story
Join our Opinion Team and tell us what you think
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We love to hear from our supporters, that’s why we’ve set up an Opinion Team to make it easy for you to share your thoughts with us and help us do things better.
Community spirit saves York foodbank
As part of the team, you’ll be asked to fill in a quick, anonymous questionnaire each month. It won’t take much of your time, but your feedback will help us improve our services and develop new ideas. You’ll also help us to stop making assumptions and we’ll be more likely to get things right.
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To join the Opinion Team please visit www.trusselltrust.org/opinions
Taking the time to help
In good company
Exploring our corporate partnerships
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A chance to meet some of our volunteers
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News in brief Ensuring hunger remains on the political agenda Westminster We recently held our first reception at the House of Commons, inviting foodbank clients to have a voice in parliament by telling their stories to an audience of MPs. Foodbanks were connected with their local MPs, providing constructive conversations about working together to combat UK hunger and poverty. Scotland Five foodbank clients got the chance to share their first-hand experience of food poverty at Scotland’s annual charity conference ‘The Gathering’. They heard from people like Alec, who told the audience how he ended up homeless when his business fell apart: “I had worked my whole life, I had so much pain to tell the foodbank and they listened to it all. Poor people are real people. It’s absolutely vital that we change our society and the way it views people in poverty.”
Shauna (pictured above) shared how the foodbank had helped her to secure her first tenancy, as well as a job: “The volunteers at the foodbank gave me the support I needed. Without their help I don’t know where I would be today.” Scotland Network Manager Ewan Gurr (pictured left) said: “Leading a foodbank is hard work and there are many dark and despondent days but if we ever expect to face up to food poverty, we need to make sure we never become detached from those facing it every day.”
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Merger with Coventry Foodbank
There are currently over 400 foodbanks in the Foodbank Network, a social franchise operating throughout the UK, with Salisbury, Brent and now Coventry Foodbank directly operated by The Trussell Trust.
Brent Foodbank re-launched It’s great news for Brent Foodbank as they recently moved into their first permanent home. Foodbank manager Michele Lawrence feels this will have a positive impact on the community. She said: “Our new space, with a donated kitchen, a new café area, and showers, means that we can do even more to help – like running cookery and money management courses and providing debt advice.”
We’re delighted that Coventry Foodbank merged with The Trussell Trust in January to establish a Regional Distribution and Training Centre in Coventry. This is allowing us to develop skills and knowledge throughout the region, whilst maintaining the existing service to the thousands of people who currently access the foodbank in Coventry. Since it was set up in 2011, Coventry Foodbank has provided 70,300 threeday emergency food supplies to people in crisis. Gavin Kibble, founder said: “We distribute through 17 foodbank centres and connect with around 330 welfare and support agencies. The foodbank has turned out to be considerably bigger than anything we had envisaged.”
Christmas appeal raises vital funds
Chris Mould - Chairman of The Trussell Trust, Dawn Butler MP, Councillor Muhammed Butt, David McAuley - Chief Executive of The Trussell Trust and Michele Lawrence - Manager of Brent Foodbank.
We were overwhelmed with the support you gave to our Christmas appeal. We know it can be a really busy time of year, but with your help we raised an amazing £22,000. These gifts enable us to develop innovative programmes, designed to support people in times of crisis and help them break the cycle of poverty.
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Spreading joy in Eastern Europe Thanks to your incredible generosity a record-breaking 10,078 shoeboxes were donated by schools, churches, businesses, community groups and individuals to our 2015 overseas Christmas Box appeal. Distributed with the help of FSCI, our charity partner in the Balkans, the presents brought great joy to many. Overseas Operations Manager, Richard Parsons, said: “We’re delighted that it not only brought a lot of joy to people in Bulgaria and Serbia but also to our donors and volunteers, 400 of whom gladly gave up their time and resources to help us sort and pack these Christmas boxes. A huge thank you to everyone involved.”
A capital idea for raising funds
10-12 miles of mud and obstacles
Run for The Trussell Trust in the British 10K London Run through the heart of central London, passing many of the capital’s historic landmarks.
If you’ve heard of Tough Mudder, you probably know it’s a demanding physical challenge that requires determination and grit to complete.
Raise at least £350 and your £50 entry fee will be waived. So why not join Team Trussell Trust and enjoy this iconic London race on Sunday 10th July?
For the first time we’re offering the chance to take part and raise funds for The Trussell Trust, at the London South event on 24th and 25th September.
Find out more and register your interest – or take the plunge and sign up! Visit www.trusselltrust.org/events or call Mark Elling on 01722 580 177
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a recipe for success
“If we can help people to better manage their finances and eat healthily, then I think they are less likely to need emergency help.” Rebekah
We spent a morning with Rebekah Gibson, Eat Well Spend Less coordinator at Waterloo Foodbank, where we got the chance to join participants and learn more about the impact of the course. Waterloo is just one of the 45 foodbanks that have been trained by our More Than Food team to run the six-week
basic cookery, nutrition and budget management course. “Participants have more confidence to cook healthy things from scratch, manage budgets and be in control of their finances,” explains Rebekah. “Those things have an impact and make a real improvement in people’s general well-being.”
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Single mother of two, Judith (right), who attended the last session praised the course. She’s been able to reduce her food budget by a third and is now using the money saved to repay other debts: “It changed what I spend and I am saving so much more.” As well as helping to improve her finances it has also benefited her health:
“It’s impacted my family too. I’m now not buying cereal bars for my children as I learnt how to make my own here.” Rebekah enjoyed seeing Judith’s confidence and skills improve throughout the sessions. She explains: “From the first course 100% of our participants reported improved health, higher consumption of fruit and veg and reduced spending on their food shopping.” Following the positive feedback received, Waterloo Foodbank is now running their
second course, where Judith is delighted to be able to volunteer and help deliver the training. She explains: “I didn’t want the course to end as I enjoyed it so much. I wanted to support other people and give a little bit back.” The course has a big community aspect to it, as Rebekah explains:
“It’s about providing people with skills but it’s also about building relationships.” Judith agrees, admitting that what she enjoyed the most was the community spirit: “Learning to cook with other
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Spring 2016 people was quite special. Supporting each other in the group to prepare the dish and then eating together afterwards was amazing.” Fellow course participant Ruby also enjoyed how the course allowed her to socialise with new people. She said: “It’s a very good opportunity for the community, people who are interested in developing cooking skills can get together and learn a lot of things.” We’re pleased to see the positive impact this course is having on the lives of people like Judith and Ruby. Further training is planned for the rest of this year, enabling more foodbanks across the country to offer our Eat Well Spend Less course. For more information please visit: www.trusselltrust.org/more-than-food
Please help us plant more seeds of hope
Alex Howell
More Than Food Project Coordinator “I’m delighted with the success stories Eat Well Spend Less has produced so far. It’s all about raising people’s confidence. We’ve seen people who before coming on the course didn’t think they were able to cook a meal from scratch, but by the end they are happy trying out new recipes.”
Regular monthly gifts account for nearly a third of our donation income. It’s a hugely valued source of funds which helps us to plan effectively for the future and gives long term security to our projects. It also helps donors by spreading the cost of supporting our work. If you are able to give a regular monthly gift of any amount and become a Friend of The Trussell Trust you will receive a welcome pack and gift of ‘friend seeds’. Visit www.trusselltrust.org/friends to find out more or call us on 01722 580 178.
Plant the seeds and watch them grow!
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building on hope Paul shares his story and a message of hope of how Stroud District Foodbank helped him during a difficult time in his life.
“There are a lot of opportunities that the foodbank can offer other than just a can of baked beans.”
When Paul’s mum passed away it turned his life upside down.
severe panic attacks and I just couldn’t find the ability to work.”
“It took its toll on me. It brought me down and I found my mental health getting worse,” explains the 47-year-old, self-employed carpenter from Stroud.
This deterioration led to Paul, who had always been able to provide for himself, being unable to afford food. “I never realised I would have to use the foodbank. I was nervous and a bit embarrassed,” admits Paul.
“I suffered with anxiety, depression and
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But it wasn’t just food that the foodbank was able to support him with:
says. “It’s also helping the community and making them feel happier too.”
“There was nothing to be ashamed of. They helped me in many ways.”
Will Mansell, Stroud District Foodbank Manager, explained the importance of projects like ReBuild: “One of the big underlying reasons why people come to foodbanks is not having decent work that pays well, so we started to explore the option of social enterprise and helping to provide work for people.”
“There are many other projects going on within the foodbank, which is very good as it’s helping people in all areas of life,” says Paul. “There are a lot of opportunities that the foodbank can offer other than just a can of baked beans.” The foodbank team encouraged Paul to get involved with volunteering at their furniture bank, which helped him to increase his confidence in a working environment again. “I started repairing some of the furniture and then we realised we had my skills to utilise and so we moved on to setting up a social enterprise, which we called ReBuild,” he explains.
The scheme offers affordable maintenance work, which Paul enjoys being part of. “ReBuild not only helps to rebuild people’s homes but it helps rebuild their lives. And it’s helping me to get back on my feet,” he
He continued: “We have found that developing our services beyond food has made a massive difference for the people we care about, with these projects helping to change lives and give hope.” Paul is very grateful for the support of Stroud District Foodbank and he is now able to focus on his future:
“It was a hard struggle but the foodbank helped me get back into work. I’m just hoping to show that there is hope for other people too.” Stroud District Foodbank was set up in 2011. As well as providing emergency food, they run a range of social enterprises including ReBuild and Stroud Distict Furniture Bank. Visit www.strouddistrict.foodbank.org.uk for more details. To find out more about how The Trussell Trust supports social enterprises like these visit: www.trusselltrust.org/social-enterprise
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Community spirit saves york foodbank
It was 10pm on Boxing Day and York Foodbank Manager, Laura Chalmers, was relaxing and enjoying the festivities with her family in Grimsby.
of our trustees alerting us to the flood situation and saying that we needed to move 13 tonnes of food immediately,” explains Laura.
Unfortunately, that quickly changed when she was warned that their foodbank warehouse was at risk of flooding: “I got a panicked call from one
As she embarked on the 60 mile journey to York, messages calling for help were being shared on Twitter. Because of the Christmas holidays and the time of night, Laura didn’t expect much of a response but the community surprised her. “I arrived at 1am, the water was one foot away from the door and around 40 people were there to help,” explains Laura. She was overwhelmed by the offers of support.
The river has returned to its former self, but the city is still recovering.
“There was a long line of people moving crates of food into vehicles,” she continues.
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“Everyone was really jolly, from kids in their pyjamas to the elderly, as well as taxi drivers passing by and stopping to help.” Thanks to the incredible support from the community, by 3.30am all the food had been moved to a local church hall, which was safe from the floodwaters. If the food had not been moved, the foodbank would have struggled to feed those in crisis over the winter, a time when they experience an increase in visitors. “It reinforced to me how well supported we are,” admits Laura. “It was also amazing to see people helping who I had previously never met and weren’t aware of the foodbank before this.” York Foodbank was set up in 2012 and in the last financial year gave out 3524 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis. We were fortunate that not too many of our foodbanks were affected by the winter storms and, in cases where they sadly were, like York, they were blessed to have the generous support of the community.
Laura, who joined in 2014, values the community aspects of the foodbank: “Whether people want to volunteer, support us financially or donate food, everyone can get involved in some way and it’s that community spirit that makes foodbanks possible.” She continues: “It’s life changing to be part of the foodbank. We give people hope. They are more uplifted going out of the door than when they came in. It’s great to see the success stories and milestones that people have achieved thanks to our support.” Although the city is still recovering from the effects of the flood, Laura is grateful for the support York Foodbank received: “It was very heart-warming to see the community pull together in such a short space of time. Thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help; we couldn’t have moved all that food without the community.”
Laura with some of the wonderful team that moved 13 tonnes of food to safety.
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In good company If we want to tackle hunger as a nation, it’s vital that big businesses play their part. The Trussell Trust Corporate Partnership team works with companies to develop strategic partnerships on a national scale and help stop UK hunger. Since the early days of the charity, The Trussell Trust has encouraged businesses to lend their skills and donate goods and money to help reach more people in need. Helen Franks, Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Trussell Trust explains: “An important part of my job is to find the unique, individual way that each corporate partner can help achieve our mission. It means we get support in areas where it’s really needed and they know their input is achieving as much as possible.” Here we take a look at a look at a selection of national partnerships and the innovative ways they support The Trussell Trust to achieve great things.
The Tesco partnership is pretty well-known, with twice yearly Neighbourhood Food Collections and over 400 permanent collection points established in stores around the UK. As well as donated food, Trussell Trust foodbanks receive a cash top-up from Tesco each year (over £1.6m in 2015). Tesco also gave £100,000 from their F&F Christmas Hats with a Heart range in December 2015. This year sees a new skill sharing project with staff from the operations team. They are helping The Trussell Trust improve and build on the success of its own community shops by giving staff training on project management and other subjects. Unilever is passionate about creating a bright future where people from every background can thrive. The company has supported our projects by funding our Regional Development Staff in the North of England and has helped open over 40 foodbanks this way. Unilever has funded the training of 28 foodbanks so they can offer the Eat Well Spend Less cookery course to their clients for free.
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Staff from IFCO with members of the Brent Foodbank team and their new van.
A global company committed to helping foodbanks across the world, in the UK IFCO donates thousands of reusable plastic containers to The Trussell Trust foodbank network each year. This enables foodbanks to store and transport food efficiently and safely, saving them thousands of pounds. IFCO has also donated brand new vans to two foodbanks, helping them have greater impact in their community.
By sharing their business expertise and applying the same principles that enable them to design world-leading engines and filtration systems, Cummins staff have helped The Trussell Trust and the foodbank network develop efficient practices, including our system of foodbank audits. The company also gives valuable support with the logistics of bulk donations by supermarkets. The staff have also been very active volunteering and fundraising for the network.
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David McAuley with Matt Cole, Head of Policy and Obligations at npower.
Successfully trialled in 2015, the npower Fuel Bank initiative is currently being rolled out and will be in about 30 foodbanks by winter 2016. Research conducted by Citizens Advice found that one in every six homes that use a prepayment meter has self-disconnected and gone without gas or electricity to save money. Now, because of Fuel Bank (which uses a referral system similar to that used for emergency food provision), people can visit a participating foodbank and receive a credit of ÂŁ30 (increasing to ÂŁ49 in winter months) to top up their gas and electricity meter. It provides immediate and hassle free support to anyone on a prepayment meter whether they are an npower customer or not. From April 2015 to January 2016, the scheme provided essential support to around 9600 people, of which over 3800 were children. If your company is interested in supporting The Trussell Trust or for more information about any of the partnerships, please contact Helen Franks, Corporate Partnerships Manager, on 07810 335 038 or email helen.franks@trusselltrust.org
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taking the time to help Monica Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator at The Trussell Trust, spent an afternoon with five volunteers to learn about their work. They gathered at one of our community shops for tea and cake, whilst sharing their thoughts on volunteering. Tom came along for work experience and has been helping in the furniture workshop for 1 year.
Claire has been volunteering for 7 years. She helps in the shops and attends the beading workshop.
Jill has been a shop volunteer for 4 years and teaches at the beading workshop.
ASh assists on the vans everyday, which he’s been involved in for the last 6 months.
Peter has enjoyed helping out in the foodbank distribution centre and warehouse for 2 years.
Monica has been the Volunteer Coordinator at The Trussell Trust for 3 and a half years.
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Monica: You all volunteer in different areas of The Trussell Trust, can you share with each other why you got involved with this particular charity? Peter: The charity had been on TV about its work with foodbanks and it seemed like a good organisation. Ash: My friend told me to come along, so I did and I’ve been here since! It keeps me active, which is good. Jill: I think it’s about the work we do, because it helps everyone. Peter: I think if you spend a lifetime doing your own thing then at some point you have to try and put something back. The work is the work that needs to be done to help other people. Jill: It’s also convenient for me to get here and my husband’s retired, so it’s just nice to get a day away from him! Tom: My mum suggested it as I like communicating and working with people.
Monica: Would you say that working with people is consistent across all the volunteering roles? Peter: Very much so. Ash: Yes, we interact with people when collecting furniture donations from their houses, so you have to be nice and have good people skills. Jill: I like to think I’m quite good with people. We enjoy the beading session and we have a laugh. Tom: The people are very nice here, I thoroughly enjoy it. It’s about teamwork too. Peter: It’s a good relaxing way to enjoy a team experience, especially if you’ve been in a commercial world, which can be quite brutal really. Here people can be themselves and work in a team and help others.
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Monica: That’s what’s nice about volunteering, a cross section of people with different backgrounds and skills. What else do you enjoy about volunteering? Jill: Everyone just makes you feel so relaxed and comfortable. I love being here, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You’d have to fight me off not to come here! Claire: There are good clothes here too. If I like the clothes I buy them! Peter: You must have a big wardrobe then! Ash: You can see when you’ve made a difference in someone’s day because you’ve managed to recycle something that they wouldn’t have been able to do themselves. Especially when someone is unable to lift a sofa on their own, so you help them out and it feels good. Peter: So, if we ask you a question now, Monica?! What’s the most popular volunteering role? Monica: Well, we try to match people to what they like to do rather than push people to where we have a need. The foodbank centre is the most popular though, I think because it’s frontline and it’s the core of where we started
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originally. Working on the vans has also been incredibly popular for people trying to get back into work and wanting to do something practical. Ash: It definitely gets you more used to the work atmosphere. I always struggled with working in the past and getting too stressed, so coming here is really good. Monica: Do you find that volunteering is a good way to make new friends? Jill: Yes, Claire and I have been friends since we’ve been here. She makes some wonderful jewellery, she’s very clever. Claire: Yeah, I do as long as nobody talks to me so I can concentrate! Tom: I love the company and meeting new people. Jill: Tom, would we be able to encourage you to come and do some jewellery making some time? Tom: No thank you. Jill: Just a thought!
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Here’s what these volunteers like the most about helping out at The Trussell Trust. Join our team of volunteers Volunteers are the lifeblood of The Trussell Trust, from giving out food to people in crisis to sorting clothes for our community shops. We could not operate without generous people giving up their time, which last year saw an incredible 42,000 people volunteer with Trussell Trust projects.
We value every contribution and welcome people of all abilities. We want you to enjoy your volunteering experience and will support you in whichever way you need. To find out about the range of volunteering opportunities that The Trussell Trust offers visit www.trusselltrust.org/volunteer for more details.
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www.trusselltrust.org The Trussell Trust is a charity founded on Christian principles that partners with local communities to combat poverty in the UK. Registered Charity in England & Wales (1110522) and Scotland (SC044246). Registered Limited Company in England & Wales (5434524). Photography credits: Abby Jitendra, Alexandra Smart, Gabriel Bahnareanu, Ian Esson, Richard Haydon, Sara Furlanetto and Steve Hall.