Norwich foodbank: Update 208

Good morning everyone! The news-reel is filling up so this week there is quite a bit to share and I already have a few things in mind to share next time, as I look ahead in the diary…!

Campaigning News

We are excited to share with you the next step of the ‘Guarantee Our Essentials’ campaign, which will take place on 20th November in Parliament Square London. Foodbanks (including ourselves) have been collecting stories of hardship and hope, written on large tablecloths and photos of these will be displayed around Westminster (see attached our contribution which has been added to over a number of months). Together with the table cloths, there is going to be a special newspaper produced entitled ‘The Hardship Times’ and copies will be given to commuters across Westminster. We have ordered copies and will distribute these to centres, Churches, donors and partners once they arrive. By joining together, we can end the need for foodbanks

Christmas Card Shop

Thank you to those who we ‘targeted’ (not quite the right word!) for support with our shift in the Original Charity Christmas Card Shop. We are short of a few shifts so would be pleased if anyone is able to offer support. We know that one our wonderful volunteers is involved with organising the shop and several of you wear a hat with another charity so will already be involved so feel free to ignore this  If anyone is free on any of the following, please let me know:

Wednesday 30th October

Wednesday 13th November

Wednesday 20th November

Wednesday 4th December

Each shift is 10.30am – 12.45pm and in St Peter Mancroft church. If you are able to offer ‘something’ within this window, that would still be helpful so please do email or call me!

Bishop Visit

Thank you to several of you who came in early (or indeed specifically!) to join with Jon, Katherine and myself last week, as we hosted a visit from our patron the Bishop of Norwich. We spent a couple of hours together, sharing about all we do to help and support people alongside the core emergency food provision. We were delighted to have Chris (our British Red Cross worker) and a person who had previously used the foodbank (who I mentioned meeting in last week’s update) and so it was great for the Bishop to hear firsthand the experiences of not just ‘us’ but our partner and guest too. You can read more here: Bishop Visit Article We also heard just yesterday that 3 questions we have raised locally with our MPs and that Trussell have raised nationally have been ‘tabled’ by the Bishop within the House of Lords and so we are pleased this has moved one step closer in our campaigning for change and support.

Centre Feedback

We received a call from a referral partner last week who wanted us to pass on how welcoming he found St Elizabeth’s and especially how supportive the team were to him and his young client who had additional needs. Well done team!

Change Tube

We have a new ‘change tube’ in the warehouse, following a request from a supporter for a way of donating foreign currency (coins and notes) they don’t need. It also accepts UK coins  We’ll put it near the kitchen area, so out of sight of the window, and can be used by anyone passing through. When it’s full, we send it off and get the exchanged rate transferred to our account. We’ll be interested to see how it goes as we’ve had a few offers / requests over the years and so a big thank you to Rachel for finding this option!

Coming Up…

We didn’t want to swamp you with lots of requests so this is more of a ‘save the date’ if you might be interested and able! We are collecting at Asda this week and Theatre Royal next week (thank you for your support with these events) and coming up are collections at Tesco Blue Boar Sprowston 28th-30th November and then Waitrose Eaton on 5th and 6th December. Surveys / doodles with precise times will follow but we wanted to get these in your diaries which are no doubt filling up ahead of the ‘silly season’

Creative Church

Katherine and I were invited to speak at St Stephens church on Sunday at their Harvest celebrations, and to launch a permanent collection point there. It was a family service with different activities to engage everyone in the way they like to worship – this included a bible study on the Feeding of the 5000, an opportunity to make a prayer bracelet, an opportunity to talk to Katherine and myself around our foodbank tablecloth and other things we didn’t see as we were with the tablecloth! The prayer time in the service was incredibly creative – in small groups, we were given a foodbank donated item with a prayer ‘receipt’ attached, then after a few minutes swapped the item with a different group and so on. We started with party rings and the prayer prompt was ‘These party rings are fun but there’s something missing. Pray for those who are grieving or feel forgotten.’ I have attached a few other examples – this really engaged me (not just with my foodbank hat on but I liked having something to look at / hold / think about when praying) but I know it’s not for everyone! What do you think…?

STORY

Our Citizen’s Advice worker Kat had her last day with us last week, as she has moved on to pastures new with a different advice and support agency – she’s had a week there now so we wish her a peaceful and restful weekend! Kat was keen to share one particular story with us of how the support and advice she and our other partners give over weeks and months – and showing up consistently at our centres – can make a massive difference:

Client X regularly attends the foodbank for company and a cuppa. After assisting her friend, client X came for advice. Client and husband both work (one part-time, one full time) and they have 2 children, one of whom has additional needs. As a family unit, they had made a claim for Universal Credit as they are struggling, but each month receive nil payments. Kat discovered that neither children were included in the claim and assisted them to rectify this. An additional factor was that due to having no children on the claim, higher deductions were being applied to their income. Since these changes, they now receive approximately £500 Universal Credit per month which has made a huge difference to the family. The family have also received back pay of £2000+ as they have been entitled to these payments since April. What turned out to be a simple fix had a life-changing outcome and only because the friend had recommended seeking help and Kat was regularly there so able to be on-hand when the client’s confidence allowed her to ask for support. What a result!

Thank you all for another week of serving and supporting and I wish you a happy Friday and weekend ahead.