Keyham Green Places Food Bank

Current stage: Awarded

Collaborators
 
  • Keyham Green Places
  • Horticultural Therapy Trust
  • Onward Community Group Ltd 
Briefly describe your project
 
This project will help us continue to provide a foodbank service to those in financial difficulty (i.e. cannot afford to buy food) to those in Keyham and the surrounding areas of Plymouth. Pick up can be made from our centre by anyone in need. We can deliver in extreme cases – e.g. person cannot get out of the house due to illness or disability.
We supply several days food at no cost, inclusive of staple items like bread, milk, cereal, tins and frozen food. Currently supporting over 120 people a month we are very busy and low on stock!
 
Describe what you hope your Collective will achieve
 
As a foodbank that has been running since the beginning of the pandemic back in March 2020 we still continue this service because we have only seen a growing need in our community and beyond. As a charity we believe in helping others and that is about ‘seeing the need and meeting the need’. Our foodbank has over 400 people on its list and from this we help over 120 people a month of all ages. These people might be on benefits but they might also be in work, we only ask that they have a financial need i.e. they cannot afford to buy food. We have had many people that are awaiting an outcome on Universal Credits and have no money for food – we have and continue to help people like this as needed.
This money will help to provide some management staffing time that includes: overseeing the food bank volunteers, ensuring the chef and all food preparation and storage keeps within Health and Hygiene laws and recommendations. We already have a 4 rating for Health and Hygiene in this respect for the work we do connected with the food bank. We have 3 large freezers that are used by the foodbank, cupboards and other storage space sometimes we need to buy low cost food for the food bank when we have not had enough donations for the food bank e.g. bread and milk.
This money will also help pay for food containers, volunteer expenses, towards certain costs like insurance, electric, phone, internet, building security and safety. We could also buy some people slow cookers (those that have no cooking facilities) they only cost about £16 each. This could particularly help those living in bed and breakfast that might only have a kettle and not even a microwave. This funding will help support the foodbank for about four to six months.
Horticultural Therapy Trust (one of our collective partners) will support us with excess food from their community allotments and we can support them back by helping any of their vulnerable clients that are struggling with finance with help from our food bank. The same is true with another collective partner -Onward community group LTD – we will support with frozen meals as needed by their clients that are most in need. They also provide a foodbank but not frozen ready meals. This could be a good solution with easily defrosted and warmed up meals in a microwave instead of having to store more perishable goods onsite. These meals are high in protein and while in a freezer can be stored for at least 3 months. Keyham Green Places will, hold major responsibility and distribute the food from the food bank. Both the Horticultural Therapy Trust and Onward community group LTD can also be hubs to holding food from us meaning they could distribute it to more clients saving us time and resources instead of us distributing to their clients individually.
 
Describe how your Collective formed
 
CROPS (Known as Keyham Green Places) has been a long standing member of POP. We are aware of the groups mentioned like Horticultural Therapy Trust and have worked with them for years on gardening projects. We will continue to do this and make available our ready cooked frozen meals and food bank service as needed to their clients most in need.
We have worked with The Horticultural Therapy Trust for many years but more to do with gardening. Now that we have a food bank we have looked at helping their vulnerable clients that might also be struggling financially while they will be donating extra vegetables to the food bank when they have surplus.
We have not worked with Onward community group LTD much and this is a new collaboration, but we both collect food from the Ark for our food banks and can share across our organisations should any of us have a surplus or greater need. Their can be a client crossover across all our groups and this can mean a greater support for all of our clients. It must be stressed that the help we offer stretches beyond the collective formed here. Should we have the resources we will help anyone in need that asks us, inclusive of other POP members.
 
Which collaboration “shape” do you expect will best describe your project?
 
PLATFORM –An organisation, supported by others, that generates opportunities for self-expression by individuals or organisations.
 
In which areas would you expect most of your grant to be spent on?
 
Core Funding / Time
 
During the first round, POP members will be asked to advise you. What advice would be most helpful?
 
Client need – what type of help their clients might have if needing help from our foodbank e.g. we have some people living in bed and breakfast that only have a kettle. This can limit the types of food we can give.
What type of food is needed most e.g. milk or eggs?
Sharing of information across foodbanks and knowing that groups like ours have freezers should any food be donated close to its best before date.