We have received some fantastic news here at Bassetlaw Food Bank recently as we’ve been awarded funding from the Postcode Places Trust! If you don’t already know, the Postcode Places Trust is a charity that awards grants, which are funded in their entirety by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. And so we would like to say a big thank you to all the people of Bassetlaw that play the People’s Postcode Lottery! We feel privileged and grateful to have received this funding and it will go a long way in supporting those in the Bassetlaw area dealing with food insecurity.
This award is crucial in allowing us to grow our staff as, at the beginning of the year, we only had one paid member of staff. We were keen to receive some support so that we could expand our staff in order to allow our future projects to come to life. The funding that we have received from Postcode Places Trust will support the Assistant Manager position, which is held by Ellen, for six months. This is wonderful news as it means that we can achieve more brilliant results for those in Bassetlaw and makes way for the new Fruit and Veg’ Box Scheme, which we established to offer those in need of a bit of extra support, but not in dire need of an emergency food parcel, access to fresh and healthy food at an affordable price.
One of the Fruit and Veg’ boxes costs £3 and includes around £15 worth of fruit and vegetables, which could last a single person household up to two weeks. This scheme is available to those on universal credit and pension credit only. We ask for the money up front to cover the costs and the boxes are delivered every other week, if more than one weeks worth of boxes has been purchased. It is our aim to make fresh and healthy produce more widely accessible to those in the local area that may need a little extra support. At Bassetlaw Food Bank it is extremely important for us to provide nutritional food to those in need. In the past few months we have made an effort to increase the amount of fresh produce in our emergency food parcels and created the Fruit and Veg’ Box Scheme to expand this further.
It is with the aid of our volunteers and the local community that we are able to support the great people of Bassetlaw, and for that we are always appreciative. And so finally, another big thank you to all the People’s Postcode Lottery players of Bassetlaw and the Postcode Places Trust, your support is truly invaluable.