News from the Foodbank
HAYES COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: Registered Charity 1198866
Account details (Co-op Bank):
Hayes Community Foodbank Kent; 08-92-99; 67307296.
If you need to contact the foodbank regarding a delivery request please contact –
Mob – 07719 952 047 but these messages are only picked up on a Friday
Or email hayescommunityfoodbank@gmail.
I ’m sure we’ve all experienced this – something that seems like a good idea turns out to be fraught with problems…. On Friday 2nd August we received 92 food boxes via the Bromley Foodbank from the Mayor of London.
We didn’t know what was in the boxes other than a mixture of fresh and cupboard food.Unfortunately, what we received turned out to be a box with a meal to cook, Hello Fresh style, and it was 1 box per person so the family of 7 needed, obviously, 7 boxes which took up a fair amount of space in the deliverers car; the instructions on how to cook this meal were quite long winded and in small print; the boxes contained amongst other things 1 clove of garlic so someone has to peel a garlic bulb and separate all the cloves; it also contained 
a small, plastic (not very
environmentally friendly) tub containing a spoonful of oil. I could go on but the Friday packers and deliverers were not impressed. Several folk suggested that the money that had been spent on this initiative could perhaps have been better spent on a financial donation to all the foodbanks concerned. This is not a new story. During Covid schools that were running breakfast clubs for children on the equivalent of ‘free school meals’ were being given free breakfast food but this was in the form of a huge packet of Weetabix or croissants which the child then had to carry around with them all day, thus singling them out.
We totally applaud anyone who wants to support the work of the foodbanks and similar organisations but from those on the ground perhaps it would make more sense to ask us first what we thought might work.
Our foodbank has been concentrating on trying to provide ‘packed lunch’ foods over the summer so the wonderful financial donations that we’ve received have been used to buy goods that make an easy picnic lunch. Going to the park, playing on the swings and have a picnic ticks a lot of boxes. Sadly we haven’t always been able to
arrange suitable weather!!
It may be only the end of August but we are already laying down plans for Christmas – watch this space.
Teresa and the team