I shared last week that I am hoping to visit several other foodbank operations in this calendar year and last week I added another, when Jon and I visited Thetford foodbank for our Norfolk and Suffolk cluster meeting. These meetings are usually hosted by us in Norwich as we’re a more central location, but there was a general consensus that we would love the opportunity to visit other sites and see how others operate so I’m hopeful there’ll be more visits on the cards as well as the ones I have planned
Anonymous Donor
I popped into NCBC last week during their foodbank session and towards the end of the time, a young man came in talking about making a donation. We misunderstood and thought he wanted a food parcel and to pay for it in some way, but he smiled and shared that the YMCA had helped him in the past and this experience, along with his personal faith had brought him to us today to give us a gift. He took out a £10 note, then a £20 and then more notes and I thanked him and asked if he was sure he could afford it (I phrased it nicely
) and he smiled again and said yes then left very promptly so I only had time to say thank you one more time (you know me, I like to make sure people know I am thankful!). When I went to pay it into the bank, it was £70
which is so generous and really made our day as we shared with the rest of the team after he left
Spring Budget – Trussell Summary
Many of you will have heard or read either the full extent of the Spring Budget from Wednesday or perhaps a summary but for those who haven’t, I attach a comment piece written by Trussell. In a recent update, Trussell reported that 98% of MPs have now heard from their constituents with regards to concerns about welfare cuts and we know all 4 MPs within the Norwich foodbank operating area (Alice Macdonald, Clive Lewis, Ben Goldsborough, Jerome Mayhew) have had contact – and more is planned to keep on keeping on at them!
Tesco Collection 
Thank you to everyone who has signed up already to help at the April collection at Tesco Blue Boar in Sprowston. We will be there 10am – 4pm on both Thursday 10th and Friday 11th April. If you are able to help, please sign up on
this link If you are unable to access the form, please email
[email protected]
Partner’s Meeting
We held our regular Partners meeting (between us, British Red Cross, Citizens Advice, Shelter, Family Hubs and other guests as and when) this week. We were delighted to welcome NCLS – Norfolk Communty Law Service – to this meeting and even more pleased to confirm they are able to attend Wroxham and Bowthorpe foodbank centres on a monthly basis, offering free legal triage and advice to those needing our support. We also welcomed back Kat – our previous Citizen’s Advice worker – who has begun a new role with Shaw Trust working with people on probation, to come and share about this work; it was lovely to see her again! As we approach April, we are sad to confirm that Age UK’s outreach service is changing and as such, we won’t have their on-site support at Witard Road and New Hope through the lovely Jo. We are awaiting news of what (if anything) will replace this service and also other services that may be able to offer on-site support to join our team of workers. Watch this space, we have many irons in the fire currently…!
Networking
There have been several opportunities recently to attend various meetings both online and in person, learning about the support on offer through statutory and voluntary organisations and how best we can all work together to help our mutual clients. We have met with different councils and departments within them, mental health providers and commissioners, as well as general advice agencies and small local charities with a very niche remit. Alongside attending events, Katherine and I also hosted a Faith Breakfast, inviting various faith groups to come for coffee and croissaints (we were very clear it wouldn’t be a full English 
) followed by a discussion on what we know are the challenges and barriers in our respective communities and what solutions there might be if we can work more closely together. We had some great conversations around financial education in schools, the need to build ‘community’ and connections and we received some really encouraging feedback. We are looking forward to the follow up event we have planed next month as well as progress within the Norfolk Anti-Poverty Alliance. As Trussell’s tagline says, TOGETHER we can end hunger and the ‘together’ bit is absoutely vital.
Book Launch
We were chosen as a beneficiary of a raffle at a book launch event, for author Ayobami Adebayo who attended UEA and wanted the proceeds to go to a local connection. I joined online (the event was in London) to give a brief overview of the charity and for 3 minutes work, we received £700! What a great return
FEEDBACK
Katherine and I were asked to make a short video of how a local church could pray for us, to share at their upcoming church meeting. We did this and had a really lovely message back, after the meeting:
‘I wanted to drop you a line to say thank you so much for your brilliant contribution to our recent prayer evening. The feedback has been SO positive. Hearing ‘directly’ from you at Foodbank made such a difference to the time of prayer that followed. People felt equipped to pray, motivated to pray and stirred to find out more. Everything that I hoped for!’
I hope you all feel equipped and motivated within your role with us and of course, in your wider life too, whatever you have going on today and over the weekend. And if you have given up chocolate for Lent and need a bit of motivation, I suggest you do NOT look at the attached which was displayed in Thetford foodbank…
Hannah
