New Forest Basics Food Bank receives £6000 grant

26 Jan

We are thrilled to have received a £6000 grant from Julia and Hans Rausing. This grant will be used to purchase additional food and basics for food parcels.

The cost-of-living crisis means more and more people turn to food banks for support. Increasing demand for food parcels combined with lower levels of donations and higher prices for any extra food purchased, creates a financial challenge for all food banks. For this reason, our Food Bank has been actively reaching out to new funding sources. Julia and Hans Rausing said: “We are pleased to support New Forest Basics Food Bank in the New Forest. The funding applications we received highlighted the emergency crisis food banks are facing across the country.”

In 2022 we supplied 272,769 meals feeding 12,989 local people including over 5,000 children in 2022. Each weekly food parcel contains ingredients for 21 meals as well as basics such as toiletries and cleaning supplies. The parcels contain generously donated food and basics from the local community, items from 12 supermarket collection points, nightly surplus collections from 5-7 local supermarkets and are topped up by purchased items to the tune of £16,000 a month. That’s a very large amount of money keeping in mind that our Food Bank receives no central funding, is completely independent and is 100% run by volunteers. Local families and individuals in crisis continue to have access to food parcels, because of donations by generous individuals and local businesses and now by this wonderful grant.

Julia and Hans Rausing said: “The Foodbank Fund was created to alleviate some of the pressures foodbanks are facing with increased demand and the associated costs. We hope that those who are able will also consider giving generously to support their local foodbanks, which are a valued lifeline to many.”