Causeway Foodbank is urgently preparing for a massive increase in local people needing emergency food & essentials (toiletries etc) as the effects of the current crisis hits home. There has already been an 81% increase in demand for emergency food in the past week alone. This is an unprecedented time & we are acutely aware that those living in poverty, suffering with mental ill-health or other vulnerabilities will be most affected by the coronavirus outbreak & the ripple effects throughout the community.
Many individuals & families across society will soon face issues of poverty for the very first time due to the following (those already in poverty will struggle even more):
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Zero hours contracts are becoming just that: zero hours. This means a sudden loss of what was already a low income.
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Many businesses are already making redundancies in the face of a loss in trade, leaving families without an income.
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Non-existent or very small savings pots provide nothing to fall back on in a prolonged period without income.
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Tight budgets mean an inability to buy more than what is essential each week. Those empty supermarket shelves are a serious problem when you don’t have a freezer full of food to survive on
Many more families in our communities will suddenly & unexpectedly be in need of practical support & we would ask the wider community to help by donating items or donating finance (so we can buy supplies in bulk).
DONATE FOOD
Donations of food/toiletries can be dropped off at Hope Centre, Vineyard Compassion, 10 Hillmans Way (Ballycastle Rd), Coleraine, BT52 2ED. You can also drop off items at permanent collection points in Sainsburys, ASDA & Tesco (Coleraine & Portstewart), Co-op Bushmills.
Urgently needed items are:
UHT Milk, Rice, Tinned Meat / Fish, Tinned Fruit, Tinned Tomatoes, Tinned Vegetables, Pasta sauce / Pot Noodle / Supernoodles, Fruit Juice, Rice Pudding, Custard
DONATE FINANCE
Donations – Vineyard Compassion (peoplesfundraising.com)
VOLUNTEER – email: [email protected]
We are wanting to build up a pool of volunteers for when the current restrictions relax
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FOODBANK HELP – We urgently need people to give time to keep our food banks running (ONLY IF you are symptom free, healthy, not in a high risk group & under 70). This could include sorting donations, packing emergency food boxes & distributing them to people who turn up. Emergency Food Boxes are also currently being made up for various front line care professionals to distribute to families in crisis.
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TRANSPORT – We need to pick up donations from collection points and we want to be able to deliver food to the doorstep for people experiencing poverty who are self-isolating at home and in need of support from a food bank. This is not a service we usually offer, so we need volunteer drivers and assistants to make this possible.
We would appreciate your help – if you can give your time please email: [email protected]