The Cobham Area Foodbank has had another challenging year. I am pleased to report that thanks to the support it receives financially from the churches, from various grants and generous individuals, the kindness of the local community with their donations of food, plus the continued dedication of our volunteers, we have faithfully met all of our requirements.
The governing principles are “there but for the grace of God go I”, and Jesus’ great second commandment, “love thy neighbour as thyself”. The Foodbank does not judge or advise its clients in any way, save only that there is a display at the distribution point of “signposts” to various forms of advice and assistance.
The Foodbank subscribes to the national network of over 400 food banks coordinated and advised by the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity in Salisbury. Trussell has devised, and Cobham Area Foodbank follows, a system whereby people who find themselves without the wherewithal to buy food, for whatever reason, can obtain a food voucher from a voucher issuer appointed by us, who may be a school welfare officer, a Job Centre, a housing benefit officer, a minister of religion or other professional, in a position to verify the need expressed. The voucher details the number and ages of people to receive food and records the reason why their need has arisen. These details are fed into a national Trussell Trust database.
The Foodbank does not impose any limit on the number of food parcels any client can receive. The only criterion is need. Particularly where many clients are working, but in low-paid and uncertain jobs, living in privately rented accommodation where rents rise but housing benefits have been cut or capped, (or are otherwise harmed by government austerity, as graphically shown by the award-winning film “I, Daniel Blake”), the Foodbank trustees consider that most theories aimed at reducing ‘dependency’ are usually cruel and to be avoided. Most Foodbank clients have no chance of getting themselves out of poverty.
All the clients live locally, in Cobham, Oxshott, Stoke d’Abernon, Downside, East and West Horsley, Ockham and Effingham.
The Foodbank has collection bins in all the local churches and some other premises including Waitrose, Starbucks, Sainsbury’s Local and Santander Bank in Cobham, and it invites donations of non-perishable food, which are collected in the Foodbank van and taken to the Foodbank warehouse at Brook Willow Farm, Leatherhead, where it is weighed and sorted by type and “best-before” dates. The Foodbank does not distribute any out-of-date food.
We have organised regular supermarket collections at Waitrose in Cobham during the year, collecting over four tonnes of food in addition to our normal regular donations. Harvest Festival collections at the churches and in schools, ‘Reverse Advent’ in West Horsley, and Christmas collections have all been important sources of food donations for us.
The support that we have received from Waitrose Cobham continues to be exceptional and we owe particular thanks to Caroline Fielding and her colleagues for their co-operation on collection days and with the Christmas Day Community Lunch, organised by St Andrew’s, Cobham and supported by us.
In total, over 21 tonnes of food was donated during the course of the year. We now participate in an agreement with another charity, Fare Share, and Waitrose, under which we receive some fresh fruit and vegetables for immediate distribution, which would otherwise go out of date and be thrown away. This is in addition to the nutritionally balanced packages of non-perishable food sufficient for one week which are our basic provision.
After five years of operation, we replaced our distinctive Mercedes Sprinter van in February with a another similar one – five years younger. Generous donations, from Downs Solicitors, Elmbridge Borough Council CIL Fund, Richard Stuart Williams Ltd, Rossetts Commercials, St Andrew’s churches in Cobham and Oxshott and St Mary’s Stoke D’Abernon, have fully funded the cost of the change.
Every Friday morning the van collects sufficient food from the warehouse for the week’s distribution, which takes place in the Foodbank’s ‘pop-up café’ at Cobham Methodist Church, open from midday to 1.30pm. In the last year we have distributed around half a tonne of food each week, providing food for 1708 adults and 914 children – an average of 50 people per week.
We are noticing a sharp increase in the number of people in need. The weekly amount of food we give out has increased since the end of November 2018 by around 40%, to around three quarters of a tonne each week. The inadequacy of the minimum wage, zero hours employment contracts and the Government’s cruel Universal Credit are all factors which have contributed to this increase in need.
Since Christmas there have regularly been weeks where we have provided food for between 60 and 70 people.
Where people, for whatever reason, cannot come to our distribution centre, we help them by delivering their food to them at home.
Our dedicated volunteers who serve in the distribution centre and those who do home deliveries all undergo special training in order that they treat clients appropriately, warmly and with respect. We hold regular training sessions and operate a safeguarding policy in relation to vulnerable adults.
As a consequence of the impending sale of the Methodist Church in Cobham, we are currently facing a real challenge to find an alternative Distribution Centre location.
Surrey Fire and Rescue Service have kindly offered to consider making space available at Painshill Fire Station, where our van is already kept, but this would depend on our receiving cooperation from Surrey County Council. We are investigating all possible avenues.
The Foodbank is administered by its General Manager, who reports to a board of Trustees chaired by Revd. Godfrey Hilliard. In April 2018, Tim Clarke was appointed as a Trustee and Treasurer. Christina van Roest, who oversees volunteer recruitment and the operation of the distribution centre, and Peter Wall who has extensive food business experience, are the other Trustees.
The Trustees have a wide range of experience in business management, logistics, storage and charity work. There is a strong Christian ethos.
Jane Olsen manages the warehouse and Paula Jones is responsible for our website and social media. Marilyn Hatch, Jo Ryan and Michael Flaxman are managers of the distribution centre, and Sylvia Williams organises rotas for the warehouse. There are around 60 volunteers currently working for the Foodbank. The Trustees are grateful to our managers and to all the volunteers for their dedication and hard work.
I am confident that we will meet the challenges of the 2019/2020 year with continued exceptional enthusiasm and teamwork.
I offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported Cobham Area Foodbank during the year.
Hugh Bryant
General Manager & Trustee
