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AMA
Original poster

I manage a food bank... AMA!

107 replies

FoodBankManager · 04/01/2023 07:49

Hi all,

I run a food bank as part of my job. We have recently opened up our community shop, too, which means people who have received emergency food parcels can pay £3 per week to choose items for 3 months to help them get back on their feet.

AMA!

OP posts:
Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:07

YolayCaprese · 04/01/2023 22:40

Thank you for all you do!
Our street started a weekly food and collection during lockdown and it's still going, though fortnightly now.
I always try to buy kids toothpaste and toothbrushes as it must be heartbreaking to not be able to brush your kids teeth.
The food bank tells us what they want each time and I usually go to Aldi/Lidl as I can get more for my money.
When they say "tinned meat" what does that mean?! Spam, tinned ham etc? I hate to ask as I feel snobby but don't know what's good!
And what's a good tinned fruit? I usually get pineapple or peaches.

You are amazing, thank you 🤩

By tinned meat I would think spam or tinned ham, or meals such as chili or chicken in white sauce (I never had bought tinned meat until I ran a food bank!)

And as for tinned fruit, I find fruit cocktail goes down well

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:07

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/01/2023 22:44

Do you welcome pet food?

Yes!

We don't buy it as we only have limited funds but it's often requested

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:15

mentalblank · 04/01/2023 22:44

Have you noticed an increase in demand recently? If so, has this made it a challenge to provide enough supplies?

There's been a steady increase. We are expecting a jump over the next month as people find they run out of money earlier than normal after Christmas expenditure.

We have a healthy budget and a good stock of food, so we are okay for now but I know some others are struggling.

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:21

caringcarer · 04/01/2023 22:48

To go to the food bank who can refer a person? Can people ever self refer?

DWP, Citizens Advice, Schools, Social Workers. Someone who knows and I'd already supporting the individual/family. We ask those who are self referring to first come to one of our drop in services (DWP or CAB) and they will refer them and also potentially offer additional support.

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Ragwort · 05/01/2023 22:33

In your opening post you say you run a Food Bank as part of your job ... does that mean it is a paid role? In my experience the vast majority of FBs are run by volunteers so who or what organisation would pay for this role?

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:36

bluelogo92 · 04/01/2023 22:51

Sorry if this has already been asked!
would you be able to accept opened chocolates for example a minute of leftover roses/quality street/Xmas chocs not in their original packaging? I ask because obviously there wouldn’t be any export date or ingredients visible? I seem to have tonnes left over from Xmas but don’t want to burden my local food bank with them if they can’t make use of them? Thank you

Unfortunately we have to have ingredients/allergens lists, sorry :( but thank you for considering donating them!

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:42

CatNutsRoastingByAnOpenFire · 04/01/2023 22:54

What happens to items that are perfectly good but out of date?

If it's past the use by date it's binned.

If it's past the best before date we will let people take it in addition to their regular allocation as long as it passed visual conformity (ie not in damaged packaging etc) and would tell people it was out of date. I wouldn't let anyone take anything more than a couple of months just to cover ourselves, but as soon as it's in the help yourself basket, it soon goes!

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Namechangingagain111 · 05/01/2023 22:46

What's the most out of date item you've ever had donated?

(I'm asking as a friend helps out at a local foodbank and we're always amazed at the cr@p that some people think are worth giving to foodbank customers. The oldest thing they've had so far has a best before date in 1998 !!!)

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:47

OriginalUsername2 · 04/01/2023 23:01

How would you know though?

Show quote history

We do the best due diligence we can. Our volunteers are good judges of character and speak to our clients, getting to know them on a personal look level. Unless we tell people to bring in their bank statements we have to believe what they and their referers say.

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:48

Slimjimtobe · 04/01/2023 23:03

Just a huge big thanks from me. You are doing Trojan work

You're welcome! I do the behind the scenes stuff but our lovely volunteers do the hard slog

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Hotsweatymomspagetti · 05/01/2023 22:49

Would you rather have better branded or supermarket food donated but less of it or more food that’s value range?

SplishSplashIWasTakingABath · 05/01/2023 22:51

Why do food banks exist with all that extra work that it entails, when surely a voucher for food would give people in need some choice over what food they pick, as well as reduce the need for so many volunteers moving food around and bagging up food parcels?

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:53

Pawpatrollermum · 04/01/2023 23:07

Thank you for everything that you do. I’m a children and families social worker and frequently refer for food parcels. It’s positive to hear that you provide additional support for people to prevent them having to keep obtaining food parcels.

In my experience it is often a long time before people are able to access such support due to being entrenched in poverty for such a long time, couples with mental health, additional stressors etc.

Sometimes when using a particular food bank I feel I have to jump through hoops and provide an unreasonable amount of information for people who I know well and have already made the assessment that they require a food parcel. There have been occasions where the person at the other end of the phone have refused to supply a food parcel due to their view of what a families benefits should have been spent on. I find do this upsetting because I’m often supporting families to manage a whole host of worries and risks alongside this. For a parent to phone me and tell me they can’t feed their child always makes me reflect on how they must view themselves as parents at that time, and it shows how desperate they are.

Sorry to derail your thread but I just wanted to thank you for what you do, not only providing an essential service but doing it without judgement and offering other services to those in need.

Thank you for all you do too ❤️

We have good links with our partners and we ask for a little bit of information to see how we can best support the clients but we trust our referrers to make judgement calls on who needs food parcels.

When parcels are not collected we try and let the referrer know (especially if it comes from social services) as we are concerned they need this food but haven't come for whatever reason (embarrassment, mental health issues, unable to get there for some reason)

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 22:54

Bjarnum · 04/01/2023 23:11

If I donate a large bag/box of tea is it split into smaller bags or does one person get the lot?

It would be split :)

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:10

Summerhillsquare · 04/01/2023 23:23

In the nicest possible way, how do we make you redundant?

The whole country needs an overhaul!

A benefits system that doesn't penalize people for working, and makes them more inclined to work and better themselves and be financially better off for doing so. A better system that doesn't sanction people already in poverty. Better support for people to manage their money and learn to budget so they haven't run out of money the last week of every month. Education so people know how to cook, and instead of spending £3 on a ready meal from Tesco Express, they can buy £3 of ingredients from Lidl and batch cook and make several meals that can be frozen. Help to get more people in to work - state funded childcare, no zero hours contracts, adult apprenticeships that pay a decent wage to help those who have never worked back in to work.

We don't want to exist, but there's no simple fix.

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Cherrysherbet · 05/01/2023 23:14

Thank you to you and all your wonderful volunteers op 🙏🏻

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:17

orbitalcrisis · 05/01/2023 07:02

Have you ever worked in politics? As you've not answered I'm going to assume that after 3 months if a recipient has not been able to sort out their difficulties then they're on their own. I hope the other agencies involved are able to give them continuing assistance even if you are not able to.

What a sorry state the country is in. Not only do people have to rely on charity there are so many that need charity that they can only help people for a finite amount of time before they are left with not even the work house to fall back on.

I hadn't answered your question as I hadn't got up to it yet as I was answering in the order they were posted.

We are a charity who work hard to support people the best we can. We can support, refer and sign post but we can't work miracles. Volunteers giving up their precious time to support people the best we can, and we make a huge difference but we can only do so much. We exist because the statutory sector is not good enough. If we didn't exist there would be a lot more people in very difficult circumstances.

Please tell me what you think we should be doing instead.

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:18

Passthecake30 · 05/01/2023 07:51

Thanks for responding to my supermarket question, it’s great that supermarkets also donate on top of that. Sometimes there are several trolleys loaded up in my Asda and I had wondered what the mechanism was for getting it there.
I’ll definitely add some more bits next time I’m in, including washing up liquid!

No problem, thanks for your support :)

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Jewel1968 · 05/01/2023 23:20

Do you think there is a better alternative to foodbanks? Do you think vouchers to be used in any shop would be better? Perhaps using an app?

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:26

Ragwort · 05/01/2023 09:23

I'm also interested in what happens after three months, I also volunteer in a FB and we support people for many, many years ... there doesn't seem to be any 'quick fix'. As FB volunteers our role is to distribute food ...but more and more we seem to be picking up the pieces from under resourced social services and other 'professional' agencies. It's such a difficult position and I feel too much is left for well meaning, but basically unqualified, volunteers to try to deal with.

I've answered this above, but basically we can continue to support if we feel it's necessary but we aren't miracle workers and there will be some that continues to struggle and can't cut back or increase their income any more.

Years of chronic underfunding has lead to this, and we are aware that we can't fix everything but we do the best we can. For many, three months grace allows them to get back in front with their bills after a difficult time and not need any support from us again.

OP posts:
Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:30

Ragwort · 05/01/2023 22:33

In your opening post you say you run a Food Bank as part of your job ... does that mean it is a paid role? In my experience the vast majority of FBs are run by volunteers so who or what organisation would pay for this role?

I am a volunteer manager and the food bank/community shop is one of many volunteering opportunities. My role is a funded role, as are many jobs in charities, currently I am paid through lottery funding. My job supports volunteers to get jobs, be fulfilled, meet new people, support their mental health. Activities and services my volunteers run in turn help our clients, too.

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:41

Namechangingagain111 · 05/01/2023 22:46

What's the most out of date item you've ever had donated?

(I'm asking as a friend helps out at a local foodbank and we're always amazed at the cr@p that some people think are worth giving to foodbank customers. The oldest thing they've had so far has a best before date in 1998 !!!)

I completely get where your friend is coming from! I spotted 5yr out of date soup last year but our volunteers may well have across other stuff that I've not seen.

We had a strange donation a few years ago - lots of boxes of cereal with the dates torn off the top or tin with no labels! It came from someone we knew living a few doors away from us and I suspected they'd cleared out their cupboards and didn't want to fill their bins with stuff they didn't want.

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Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:43

Hotsweatymomspagetti · 05/01/2023 22:49

Would you rather have better branded or supermarket food donated but less of it or more food that’s value range?

Definitely more value items. Luxury items are nice for us to give to people in a bad place but when you've not eaten for several days and have to be given a parcel of food from a stranger, you're grateful for anything.

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RaininSummer · 05/01/2023 23:46

Is it a hard rule that you don't use anything out of date? I ask because I buy a lot of my own groceries from a store which is heavily discounted because the goods are over best before dates. It seems shame as there is so much more for the money that way

Original poster
FoodBankManager · 05/01/2023 23:50

SplishSplashIWasTakingABath · 05/01/2023 22:51

Why do food banks exist with all that extra work that it entails, when surely a voucher for food would give people in need some choice over what food they pick, as well as reduce the need for so many volunteers moving food around and bagging up food parcels?

Who would pay for the voucher?

The money we apply for through funds have to be spent in a specific way, and we have to prove this to funders with reports with statistics and case studies.

The food parcels or community shop baskets don't cost us what they are worth. We get donations from individuals and organisations as well as purchasing staples and FareShare deliveries. So to get £20 of items for £3, a third of the items might have been bought by us but the rest have come from other sources.

I hope that makes sense. I should go to bed! 🥱

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