Why aren't more food bank collections like this?

[Upwiththisiwillnotput]

Food bank bins always seem to be at the end of the tills after you've finished shopping. So I never remember to pick something up to put in there.

The supermarket near my work has a charity stall outside with big notices saying "Today we need green vegetables/tinned fruit/bread etc so you see it on your way in and pick it up when you shop.

This seems much more sensible to me.

And bloody de-icer in the winter!!

agree OP - they should

This is really good idea.

I with more shops did it. I’m always in a hurry, never do a shopping list and simply forget.

That wouldn't help me at all seeing as my perfectly planned shopping list is always left on the kitchen side when I go shopping. Every blooming time.

I once asked why the Lidl boxes were after the checkout....apparently some people were sorting through and swapping contents of the boxes when they weren't visible to staff.

I've always wondered if they could set up a way of donating items if you online shop? The pickers could just put them in a donation point in the stockroom or something.

Yes!! Foodbank people, if you are reading this, please consider a sign at the entrance of the supermarket, not just at the end!

I live in a country where we do not have this kind of FB and it is not going to occur to me to collect anything for the FB unless I see a sign at the start.

Me too.

Our foodbank puts a social media post out on what they're running low of every now and again.

My income fluctuates and I done't want to commit to a Direct Debit, that's why I would appreciate reminders.

Our local Foodbank has a standard list on their FB page, and I think they are pretty much always thankful for things on that list. They also update on FB/reply to comments regarding if anything specific is needed/running low. It's probably easier for them to do that than going down to the shop(s) and updating.

I use Sainsbury's online, during COVID they made it possible to add a monetary donation for FareShare, I just add that to my trolley every time.

Ocado you can too, and I think they double it.

Yes!! Foodbank people, if you are reading this, please consider a sign at the entrance of the supermarket, not just at the end!

I run a food bank. I'd love a sign at the entrance, but I don't know that my local supermarkets would agree to it - they populate the entrance to their shops with promotions etc.

We have a lovely partnership at the moment - a local high end bakery asks customers who are going away on holiday (ie pausing their subscriptions) to donate their bread to us instead. Throughout July and Aug hundreds of people have received lovely bread baked that morning.

Items etc to buy/donate - the list will often be the same week on week, bar seasonal fluctuations with things like soup. If someone asks us what to donate I always suggest savoury crackers, tinned fish like sardines, tinned tomatoes - always popular at ours and covers all bases/housing circumstances.

We get through a lot of tinned tomatoes so I always buy a four pack and donate two of them. I'm glad to hear they are popular - sometimes it feels like an easy option.

I volunteer at a very small food bank run entirely by volunteers. We get a delivery every week from the Felix Project, formerly known as Fair Share, I think. They have contacts all over the place with supermarkets and wholesalers and they send their vans off to collect food that's going out of date/reached best before date and is therefore no longer saleable. Back at the warehouse they sort it all out and re-distribute it to local food banks. (Some of the bigger food banks possibly do that themselves.) Fantastic system. Might be a useful home for any extra monetary donations anyone felt able to make.

We rely heavily on donations of both money and goods to keep going. If you can donate money, that's a great way to provide reliable predictable support, and if there's a Gift Aid scheme please do use that if applicable as it's a great boost to the monetary donations.

If you donate goods, it's not a good idea to go off piste as non-standard donations can be difficult to make good use of, for reasons like the one above about bath products. I assume most food banks put a list on their website of things they always need. Sanitary towels and tampons are often overlooked.

Our local Tesco has a shelf as you go in with bags with items in up to the value of £3. You grab a bag as you walk through the door and the food bank gets what they need. I usually top that up then with a couple of tins of tuna, some flavoured porridge sachets, some cereal bars and a drink like tea bags or a tub of hot chocolate. I sometimes buy the nice coffee sachets - the instant latte ones where you don’t need to add any extra milk or sugar to make it taste nice.

Yes, they do this in our local Lidl. It definitely helps me remember to pick something up during my weekly shop.

Lidl are obviously more trusting round here. Our veg boxes are in the main shop right next to the rest of the veg.