The Trussell Trust, has rated Rugeley Foodbank as “an exceptional project and a great example of a charity providing ‘More than Food’ projects to reduce destitution and social isolation in their community.”
Rugeley Foodbank is one of over 420 foodbanks in a national network run by the charity The Trussell Trust. Every year the Trust spends some time with us to review and audit our operations and performance. The Trust has recently completed this year’s audit. We were pleased the auditors rated us as exceptional and highlighted our work on “More than Food” projects such as Xmas 4 Kids and Active-ate Summer.
The audit also commented on how we are well supplied with food donations from local schools, churches and individuals, and the relationships we have with 99 referral agencies, many from outside the town.
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to helping us in the last year:-
- Each and every person who has made a donation to the foodbank;
- Our contacts at local businesses, churches and schools;
- Our referral agency partners;
- Our volunteers;
- And everyone else involved in all our projects
Some features of our 2017 operation highlighted in the audit include:
- Rugeley Foodbank has now been operational for 6 1/2 years.
- During the year 2017 15,408 kg of food, toiletries and ladies’ hygiene products were donated to Rugeley Foodbank.
- Over the same period, 13,092 kg was distributed to 1,541 beneficiaries (928 adults, 613 children)
- Private donations of food and donations from local churches and schools account for much of the food collected but in December the foodbank also conducted a supermarket collection at Rugeley Tesco Superstore bringing in a total of 1,804 kg of food.
- The annual ‘Xmas 4 Kids’ pop up stall in Rugeley market was another success of last year. The aim was to help people emerge from Christmas debt free by collecting unwanted toys and selling the goods, not at a fixed price but at a price whatever customers could afford or felt was fair. Although not primarily a money making venture, proceeds went towards the work of the Rugeley First Responders. £2,200 was raised in the 3 1/2 weeks run up to Christmas. It was a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the local community for their remarkable generosity and also helping support a local charity that anyone of the community may need to call on at any time.
- Further connections into the community have included a promotional stand at ‘Rugeley Community Day’.
- Additionally, we hosted a class of 30 local primary school children who were involved with dating, sorting and storing the food they had donated. Foodbank also had an input into ‘Active-ate Summer ‘ a summer club aimed at tackling holiday hunger, social isolation and inactivity. The scheme ran for 3 days/week over 4 weeks. In that period, 750 meals were provided to 544 beneficiaries (173 adults and 367 children) Collections and brief presentations at school harvest festivals have also provided this opportunity.
- We have 99 registered professional agencies supporting us and 13 totally committed and dedicated volunteers, 10 occasional and 3 students. 4 others oversee various liaison/admin roles. On Friday afternoons we still employ two adults with learning difficulties from Voyage Care which allows them to partake in meaningful activity and interact socially.