A vital grant is helping a foodbank cope with a steep rise in demand from people desperate for assistance.
The Abergele and District Foodbank say the £5,600 in funding from housing association Cartrefi Conwy came at a crucial time.
The money from the Donations and Sponsorship fund has enabled them to employ a part-time worker to develop the service and co-ordinate the work of volunteers.
The service, based at the Abergele Youth Action Café in the Itaca centre at Hesketh House, in Bridge Street, is seeing referrals from agencies such as Women’s Aid, the Job Centre, social workers and health visitors rise to unprecedented levels.
Project Manager Linda Tavernor says Abergele Youth Action was set up in 2001 and Itaca was established in 2005.
Linda said: “The trustees of Abergele Youth Action, and I’m a trustee myself, were made aware of the need for a foodbank. It actually took us nine months to get the idea off the ground before we actually opened in September 2013.
“We work very closely with Cartrefi Conwy and their Donations and Sponsorship grant of £5,600 has been a massive boost and meant we could take on a part-time organiser, Andrew Sturgess, to develop the foodbank and co-ordinate the work of volunteers.
“Andrew was employed part-time for an initial six month period thanks to that funding but the trustees are extending that period in the hope we can attract further future funding.
“There are a lot of local people that come to us for help with things such as CV writing and writing job application letters. It was through talking to people like these that we realised there were many local people in crisis that needed urgent help.”
She added: “We launched the foodbank in conjunction with local churches of all denominations and the Trussell Trust which helps community projects across the UK in setting up foodbanks.
“And we now take referrals from a wide area including Kimnel bay, Llanfair TH, Towyn, Abergele and even Rhyl. In truth we won’t turn anyone away.
“However, clients have to be referred from a list of referral agents that we work with. People can’t just turn up and ask for a food parcel. And clients can only receive three food parcels in any six month period.
“We have seen the number of people coming to us for help rise considerably and now we are getting at least one new referral every day and have now helped more than 350 clients. These are local people out there in the community that are in crisis.”
According to Linda, it’s often heartbreaking to see the despair some people in desperate need of help are in.
She said: “We have regularly had grown men crying. They are often just at rock bottom. It has to be the worst feeling ever when you can’t feed your family and it really hurts the pride of some people.
“We had one family referred to us for help and, while the wife came in with their children the husband stayed outside. This was a man who’d simply lost his job and was unable to claim any form of benefits for a number of weeks and couldn’t feed his family.
“It really is heartbreaking on occasions. We also help clients that lead dysfunctional lives whether through alcohol or drug addiction. But we can only help if they allow us to help them address their problems that caused the issue in the first place.”
Linda says the foodbank receives a steady stream of food donations but they can always use more.
She said: “We have a wonderful arrangement with Tesco whereby customers can donate tinned food, pasta, coffee or tea and other non-perishable items into a big collection box.
“Supermarket collections account for more than half of food donations and we take delivery of five crates a week from Tesco. Church members account for 26 per cent of donations and we also have donations from individuals and community groups.
“The foodbank is clearly needed and is helping so many local people that find themselves in crisis, often through no fault of their own. I’m delighted we have such a close relationship with Cartrefi Conwy and that they have supported the foodbank and the important and vital work we are doing.
“Without the backing of Cartrefi Conwy the foodbank would definitely not be anywhere near the success story it is.”
Cartrefi Conwy is “proud” to support the foodbank.
Communications and Marketing Manager Caroline Naughton said: “In today’s difficult economic climate we know there are tenants who are struggling through no fault of their own. Whether their problems stem from sudden unemployment, disability, changes to the benefit system or other issues.
“We are thrilled the Cartrefi Conwy Donations and Sponsorship grant allowed the foodbank to employ Andrew Sturges for six months and we are delighted trustees are hopefully extending that period as the foodbank continues to grow.”
