Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask you to please sign and share a petition about food banks?

49 replies

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 15:46

Hi everyone! :)

I recently came across this petition on Change.org that I thought was a fantastic idea - introducing an option to donate online to supermarket food banks when people do their food shopping on the Internet.

Am I being unreasonable to link to it here and to ask you all to please sign and share as much as you can? I really think the petition is a great idea :)

Thanks so much!

OP posts:
HeyCat · 26/04/2017 15:48

Ocado already has that option but yes it would be good if the others did!

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 15:49

Thanks for your reply Cat :) that's a good start though, I didn't realise Ocado already offered it!

OP posts:
Hassled · 26/04/2017 15:51

That is a really, really good idea. I online shop way more often than I visit a supermarket, and when I see the Foodbank collection points there it's usually after I've shopped and as I'm leaving. It would be great to be able to donate as I do my online shop.

Crunchymum · 26/04/2017 15:59

Signed. Always grab a fivers worth of stuff when I pop into my local Waitrose (they have a collection point) but alas I'm not that often in Waitrose.

Would happily donate through my online shop though (Morrisons)

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 16:02

Thanks so much Hassled and Crunchy :)

OP posts:
Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 16:27

Thanks so much everyone for all of your signatures and support so far!

Anyone else interested in signing? :)

It would be amazing if we could get as many signatures as possible please :) (signing, blogging about it, sharing via word of mouth/email/Facebook/Twitter/Whatsapp, tweeting the supermarkets or contacting your local MP perhaps)...

Thanks!

OP posts:
EdithWeston · 26/04/2017 16:43

It's not easy to find the 'You Give We Give' vouchers on Ocado - they're under 'Newsagent and Entertainment' > 'Gift Experiences and Vouchers'

They're available at £2:50, £5 and £10 - you just click on it to add to trolley.

Ocado say: 'You give money, we give food. For every pound you give, we'll give at least two pounds worth of groceries to food banks. So your donation counts for double of more. Our food bank partners won't just be given boundless baked beans or piles of potatoes. Instead we'll give them exactly what's on their list, whether it be fresh veg, tea bags or loaves of bread'

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 17:25

Ah that's a good point Edith

If anyone else would like to sign and share the petition, I would be really grateful :)

OP posts:
BoyFromTheBigBadCity · 26/04/2017 17:28

Will do OP. Whenever I'm inthe supermarket near me that has a collection I buy toothpaste, tooth brushes, and tampons. I remember once in a thread a poster said that she remembered drying out pads and tampons in the radiator to reuse. I felt so awful for her and others.

EdithWeston · 26/04/2017 17:31

It seems to be a good way of food banks getting hold of fresh produce. Because being able to have a timed delivery with the stuff you know you can give out in-date is about the only way to make it work.

The Ocado scheme has been running for some years now, and I've never heard any criticism of it. I was wondering if any MNetters work for Ocado or a food bank which is a beneficiary of this scheme - and if so (and if not horribly indiscreet) council they comment on if it is as nice as it sounds?

FishInAWetSuitAndFlippers · 26/04/2017 17:31

I'll sign it. Great idea.

I've had to have a food bank twice in the last couple of years, one very recently when tax credits decided to stop paying me with no notice.

I am now paying back what I had again every time I go into the supermarket. I do a lot of shopping online though so this would be much better.

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 17:33

Thank you so much Boy :) gosh I'm so sorry to hear that - that's awful! :( I didn't actually realise that some food banks accepted toiletries, so that's brilliant that they're asking for other essentials that aren't food too.

OP posts:
SquatBetty · 26/04/2017 17:35

Signed - really good idea. The bulk of my food shopping is done online and if I pop in store for a top up, every time without fail I forget to get anything to put in the food bank collection point.

CurbsideProphet · 26/04/2017 17:35

Signed Smile

I refer people to food banks at work and they are a fantastic service.

IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece · 26/04/2017 17:35

Signed. It's a great idea

The Collection in our 2 local supermarkets are tucked away at the end of the tills and aren't there half the time so you either forget until you get through the tills and notice it on your way out or you remember, buy some bits and it's not even there so you end up ferrying it back and forth until it is there!

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 17:35

Thanks Fish :) Edith yep absolutely, I completely agree about the fresh produce. It looks like online donations would give the food banks more freedom and control to choose what they select and ask for, which will be brilliant.

OP posts:
EdithWeston · 26/04/2017 17:37

I sometimes drop stuff off at a local foodbank. They have an online list of what they want, and loo roll and shower gel feature regularly, as does washing up liquid.

I was in a supermarket today, and saw that the food bank donations box had oodles of sanpro in it. I did wonder if it was one frequented by MNers....

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 17:38

Thanks so much Squat, Betty and IHope! :) Betty I always forget to donate anything, especially if I'm in a hurry Blush

OP posts:
SpeckledyHen · 26/04/2017 18:03

Signed

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 18:22

Thanks Speckledy!

OP posts:
3rdTimeN0w · 26/04/2017 18:30

I know someone who set up a collection for a local food bank
Alot of food and toiletries were donated

The food bank sent a thank you letter saying something like "please in future only donate money" not food

We made no further donations to this food bank

People were upset and I am sure if we had received a nice letter saying thank you for the food, the donations would have continued

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 18:37

Oh gosh 3rd! I'm sorry to hear that Sad I completely agree with you that the food bank should have taken a different approach, instead of specifying what kind of donations they would like in such an upfront way. That is such a shame.

OP posts:
73kittycat73 · 26/04/2017 19:03

Just about to sign now, it's a great idea OP. Smile

Original poster
Pariswhenitdrizzles · 26/04/2017 19:06

Thank you so much 73! :)

OP posts:
Ethelswith · 26/04/2017 19:08

My DC's school has a foodbank as recipient of harvest festival contributions. They sent all parents that food bank's letter, and they phrased it along the lines of:

'Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we do not need further donations of XYZ at present. We also have a reasonable stock of PQR, but more is welcome. Our greatest need right now is for ABC, and we immensely grateful for all donations however small"

There was a further paragraph about how cash donations were also important, plus a link on how to give.

Much nicer than 'only give us money'. But these things are almost entirely staffed by volunteers, and I'd (try to) ignore infelicities, even ones (like that described by 3rd ) that would really annoy me.