News from the Foodbank
HAYES COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: Registered Charity 1198866
Account details (Co-op Bank):
Hayes Community Foodbank Kent; 08-92-99; 67307296.
In the past I have mentioned that our Foodbank is a recipient of the Hygiene Bank scheme. This scheme runs projects across the country which helps people who cannot afford basic essential toiletries and our local one is based in a lock-up in Orpington. The HB receives donations from companies like Proctor and Gable, and Boots.
A new survey by the HB has found that struggling to buy toiletries is one of the first signs a family is falling into crisis and they estimate that over three million people in the UK are experiencing hygiene poverty. The shame, stigma and social exclusion families feel is profound.
Feeling clean and having clean clothes is something most of us take for granted but for some families this just isn’t possible. There are now, in some local schools, washing machines that are used to wash school uniforms and PE kits because a family cannot afford to run a machine or afford the powder needed to clean clothes.
The HB works with not just Foodbanks but also homeless shelters, refuges, and mother and baby homes. In the past we have received from the HB soap, shampoo, washing powder and feminine sanitary wear. Whenever I have collected items from the lock-up my car smells lovely for the next couple of days.
Last month the HB charity distributed over 20,000kg of products across the UK. Food, or soap, for thought.
And some Easter thoughts and observations:
- Eggs, eggs and more eggs plus some hot cross buns.
- When you say Easter to most children they say ‘Easter eggs’ or ‘chocolate’.
- Thanks to the students at Newstead Wood School we are able to give every child and all our teenagers a chocolate egg this Easter – wow - big shout out for NW!!
- We are also able to give every family a pack of hot cross buns, some ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’, and at least half a dozen eggs (hens’) – wow – a big shout out for all our generous financial donors.
Thank you,