The last year has held many challenges for us all and the Meon Valley Food Bank is no exception. For months now the press and news have screamed “Cost of Living Crisis” and “Energy Crisis”. Almost weekly there has been another “bad news” story.
But what has all this really meant for us at the Meon Valley Food Bank? Over the weeks and months, we have continued to focus our attention on providing support to those who need our help. In practical terms we have seen more people being referred to us for help and we have continued to provide 7 days food for each family member.
We are extremely grateful to all of you who donate food. Food comes to us from many individuals but also from churches, schools and other organisations. It is always so encouraging to see the food donations left at places like Sainsbury’s Bishops Waltham and the Coops in Wickham and Bishops Waltham. Without you all we really would have struggled.
But food donations are not enough on their own, so we have for some time now been buying in extras from ASDA. Extras makes it sound like they are non-essential items but if you were to visit us on a Monday morning when the ASDA delivery arrives you would see we are purchasing many everyday essentials. This can range from UHT milk to tinned vegetables, tuna, rice pudding, cup a soup and so on. All things that go into our basic food package.
You may be wondering how we can afford to do this? Not only do we have amazing food donors but we also have individuals and organisations, like Parish Councils and local societies, who donate money. It is your generosity that enables us to buy those essential extras from ASDA and elsewhere.
So our needs are met through the generosity of the local community. Donations of food and cash are the things that keep us going. If you would like to support us by either a one-off or regular bank transfer please send us your contact details via the website and we’ll get back to you with our bank details.
Our heartfelt thanks for all you do for us so that we can continue to support those most in need.
We are delighted to announce that Ian Wollam has agreed to join the Trustee team of the Meon Valley Food Bank.
Ian has a broad business background in the construction industry most recently at Director level in supply chain and change management positions. Since his retirement, and move to the local area, Ian has involved himself in several community facing roles. He is Chair of the Governors of Swanmore Primary School and is also a Trustee of Home-Start Hampshire, an organisation we work closely with in supporting young families.
Ian is passionate about working with charities who focus on helping to improve the lives of people in our local communities. Ian said, “I have seen how the Meon Valley Food Bank have risen to the challenges of Covid and a forced relocation and yet have never taken their eye off their main purpose in life which is to provide, without question, support to those most in need. I look forward to working with the dedicated and enthusiastic team as we face the new challenges that lie ahead.”
We are delighted that Theresa Pratt begins work as the new Food Bank Manager on Monday April 29th.
Jane Perrott will remain both a trustee and a volunteer but it will be Theresa handling all the day-to-day running of the Food Bank.
Theresa comes to the Food Bank with 18 years’ experience in the charity sector, most recently at the Blue Lamp Trust, with a career which started in the Royal Navy and then embraced software and business management.
She is a highly-efficient administrator and manager, who has recruited and trained volunteers alongside managing other paid staff.
She is familiar with all the policy issues that an operation like ours needs to monitor.
She is now looking forward to a part-time role which will enable her to support her local community.
Report given by Annie at the Meon Valley Food Bank AGM 18th March 2024 at the Wickham Community Centre
WICKHAM COMMUNITY CENTRE
The first thing I want to say is how grateful we are to be operating out of the Wickham Community Centre. It has become a hub for local service providers.
With the Pantry, Home Start, and all the excellent community ventures run by the Centre itself, it’s a real hive of activity here and it works very well for us to be a part of that.
We already worked closely with Citizens Advice when their local office was in Bishop’s Waltham and are delighted that has recently moved here too.
I know that having to move in the midst of Covid was a nail-biter but now we definitely see God’s grace in putting the Food Bank here.
OUR APPROACH
I thought, secondly, that I should say a bit about how we approach what we do.
We do tread a fine line. Thanks to your generosity we are able to give a generous package of tinned and dried goods sufficient to feed an individual for one week.
We endeavour to help clients to get themselves formally referred by an external agency – often Citizens Advice, but also specialist housing providers, health visitors, schools…
This helps ensure people are in receipt of the government support to which they are entitled but it also helps prevent the MVFB becoming too easy an option re basic needs.
Not everyone can handle this so we do have a few clients (known to us) who refer themselves.
We conduct an annual review of our most regular clients, asking them to get themselves re-referred.
We are happy to be generous – and we’d rather be generous than judgemental – but we absolutely do not want to build dependency into our client relationships. And indeed we also recognise we need to watch our vulnerabilities as carers, who may ‘over-invest’.
As David Proud reminds us regularly, we look for the day when we aren’t needed.
Interestingly, we do see a small but significant number of former clients each month whose personal data becomes anonymised in our system because they have not approached us for the previous year.
NUMBERS
The following was shown largely in slides on the night.
We have seen a steady increase in the number of households helped each month. Some of these are individuals on their own, others are households with anything up to 6 children.
Some we help regularly (our aim is no more than twice per month) and some only occasionally. At no point in the past year did we drop below 30 households helped per month.
For 9 months of the year, it was 40 or considerably more and in December it was over 80.
If you translate that into bags of food loaded, that represents a very significant gift of time and hard work by our volunteers.
To put that slightly differently, in each of November and December 2021, we supported 13 households. In each of November and December 2022, we supported 37 households. In November 2023, we supported 45 households and in December 2023, we supported 81 households.
We are also helping higher numbers of children. Almost every month in 2023 showed an increase over 2022 and the total over the year was 330 higher.
THANK YOUS
It is hard to do justice in a report like this to all the time that is given via the Food Bank.
Thank you to those of you who faithfully collect and deliver food to the centre.
Thank you to those of you who have made special collections for the Food Bank at Harvest, at Christmas, when you have run particular events. If you don’t monitor the News section of our website, do have a look at the autumn’s postings.
Thank you to Rotary, who provide drivers to enable us to make deliveries – invaluable help. Thank you to the churches and individuals who make financial donations. Without you, we would not be able to make the (large) twice-monthly supermarket orders which are essential to our operation.
And thank you to our volunteers. There are c 20 people who faithfully enable what we do. For those of you who haven’t seen the floor on an Asda Monday – covered in crates and with other bags of goodies coming in as well – it’s quite a sight!
Somehow it all gets marked up and stored. And equally, when we have had 20 or more separate orders to meet on a Tuesday, the ‘cupboard’ team, supported by the phone team and the delivery team, are amazingly efficient.
From one perspective, our operation is straightforward: food in (largely on a Monday) & food out on a Tuesday. As the Meerkat would say: Simples. But, to support that and to ensure best-practice in a number of respects, the ‘behind-the-scenes’ operation is considerable.
It has been recognised for a while that it is no longer sustainable for that to be done in a voluntary capacity. Again, thanks to those of you who give financially, we are in a position to appoint a paid manager. Following a successful campaign, I’m delighted to say that we are in the final stages of appointing someone who will take on that role in the near future. As Andy pointed out, we have sufficient savings to fund that for 2 years and we trust our appointee will successfully ensure financial underpinning of her/that role in the longer term.
Jane Perrott with the Mayor of Winchester
Which brings me to my final Thank you. Jane Perrott recently received richly-deserved recognition from the Mayor of Winchester for the 9 years of devoted service she has given to the Food Bank.
Her contribution has grown exponentially over the years, mirroring the growth in service provision. Her wise pastoral-heart and her management of all the many interfaces have contributed hugely to making the Food Bank the trusted operation that it is.
It’s her success in the role which means we need a formal appointment – and she needs a well-earned chance to step back and give more time to her family as well as enjoy her husband Graham’s imminent retirement.
I’m delighted to say, she will remain a trustee and a volunteer so we won’t lose her knowledge and skills.
NEW CHAIR
There is one last thing I want to say before I hand over to Ally Chatterley, Citizens Advice Services Lead in our area and Graham Phillpotts, who is a volunteer supervisor and a debt adviser, who have been asked to help us see the operation of the Food Bank in its wider local context.
When I took over as Chair from Mike Salter last year (another devoted servant of the Food Bank), I did so because I could see a short-term contribution I could make in collating all the information in individuals’ heads and creating a platform such that a Manager could come in and a new Chair could be appointed to take the Food Bank forward.
There are real areas of interest and opportunity to be explored. Like Jane, I’m in the middle of a large and growing family. I am not the person to Chair the next phase of development.
So, when we notify you of a new appointment, it will be a cause for celebration rather than concern. It’s planned for; it’s being prayed for. Please help us identify the right people in our community to come on board as trustees and holders of key positions.
You are invited to the 9th Annual General Meeting of the Meon Valley Food Bank on Monday 18th March to be held at Wickham Community Centre, Mill Lane, Wickham, Hampshire PO17 5AL
Doors will open at 6.30 to tour our operation and also visit the new Citizens Advice office. The formal meeting will start at 7.15.
Citizens Advice are joining us this year to help us see the Food Bank operation in the wider context of local need. Our view is necessarily limited; theirs is much wider.
If you would like to come, please contact us to reserve your space.
Since first opening its doors in 2015, the Meon Valley Food Bank has established itself as a highly regarded and well managed charity serving a wide area of the Meon Valley. The food bank is based at the Wickham Community Centre
In the last 2 to 3 years the food bank has experienced considerable growth and is now at a point where it wishes to appoint a new Manager. The role, as detailed below, calls for someone to provide leadership as the organisation continues to develop in the context of current and future economic and social developments.
THE POSITION
Responsible to the Trustees for:
Operations
The day-to-day management of the food bank. This will involve undertaking some tasks throughout the week. Note: The core operating hours are Monday between 9 am and noon for the receipt of food and Tuesday between 9 am and 2 pm for the distribution of food parcels
Ensuring that all email and phone enquiries are dealt with expeditiously
Publishing a weekly “shortage” list via email and making a regular online supermarket order/ trip to a local large foodstore to ensure suitable supplies of food and other essential items
Overseeing the receipt of donated food items and supermarket orders: checking that food is “in date” and marked-up plus its careful and correct storage – done largely by volunteers under your supervision.
Overseeing the preparation of food parcels and arranging collection or delivery. Note: At present the foodbank deliveries are supported by the Rotary Club who provide a vehicle and driver. There are also other insured drivers amongst volunteers and trustees.
Overseeing the referral process to ensure that a regular review of users take place and food bank dependency is not created
Volunteers
The recruitment, training and ongoing development of the volunteer team in line with agreed policies ensuring accurate records are kept, including when training has been completed
Managing speculative volunteer applications
Ensuring that all aspects of the food bank operation are compliant with, in particular, data protection, health and safety and safeguarding best practice
Using the Volunteer What’sApp group to keep people informed
Note: one volunteer has a defined role providing administrative support.
Management, Administration and Finance
Maintaining appropriate records and ensuring they are maintained in a secure environment
Managing Petty Cash, including receipt of donations made during operating hours, and liaising with the Treasurer re all expenditure receipts
Liaising with the Webmaster to ensure the food bank website is interesting and up to date
Working with referral agents and other support organisations to ensure clients have access to appropriate advice.
Providing information to donors, and other interested parties, on the needs and performance of the food bank ensuring they have information that is useful to their own audience
Working with the Trustees to identify areas of concern and possible growth opportunities/new initiatives
Using every opportunity to raise the profile of the food bank eg through articles in relevant publications or giving talks to interested groups
General
It is essential that the Food Bank Manager ensures:
that all internal relationships are based on openness, honesty, trust and respect
that all discrimination and prejudice is dealt with in line with foodbank policies the moment it becomes apparent
that all contact with clients is made in the open and in the presence of another volunteer
that all contact with clients is kept professional and that no offers of personal help are given, be they practical or financial.
THE PERSON
Comfortable working in a Christian environment. The Meon Valley Food Bank is church-led with the trustees all being committed Christians
Will have real concern for the problems of food poverty in society and our local area
Sensitive and empathetic
Well organised and concerned for detail, able to cope with multiple tasks across the full spectrum of food bank activities
Able to work on own initiative but also to provide leadership and support to the volunteer team that currently numbers between 20 & 25
Numerate and able to work closely with the Treasurer. Note: The food bank is a Registered Charity and therefore its financial affairs are highly regulated with a need to produce annual reports and accounts.
Computer literate – totally comfortable using Outlook, Word and Excel. The food bank has an online database and cloud document storage. IT support is provided.
Excellent communication skills, able to represent the charity at community events as required either as a guest or as a speaker
Previous experience of working within the voluntary/charity sector is desirable
Car owner/driver
HOURS EXPECTED
We expect this will require 15 – 20 hours per week
We expect to pay £25 per hour, depending upon experience should the manager wish to be paid
The Future
It is anticipated that further structural changes to the food bank operation may become necessary including the appointment of other key staff. The Food Bank Manager will play a key part in identifying needs and implementing changes.
