Doncaster foodbank support scheme launched

Sandra Edwards, Project Manager at Doncaster Foodbank based at Christ Church on Thorne Road, said the support couldn’t have come at a better time as she and her team of volunteers strive to meet the soaring demand for its emergency food parcel service.

Doncaster St Leger Rotary Club has partnered with Doncaster Rotary.

A recent Rotary delivery to the Doncaster Foodbank’s warehouse at Kirk Sandall included vital bulk supplies of tea, coffee, porridge and tinned fruit to restock shelves depleted as a result of a 40% increase in demand for food from individuals and families in Doncaster in the past month alone.

“In the past twelve months prior to the lockdown we have provided food for over 5500 people. Almost 2000 of those were children who, without our input, would have gone hungry,” says Sandra Edwards. “We expect those numbers to increase significantly as the impact of Covid-19 and the downturn in the economy bite still further, impacting hardest on people already struggling to cope.

“We get fantastic support from local supermarkets and the general public but having a major charity organisation like Rotary stepping in to help too, provides us with another precious lifeline.”

The Rotary4Foodbanks scheme, run entirely by volunteers, is an East Midlands and South Yorkshire initiative which pools funds and bulk buys staple food supplies at wholesale prices which it distributes to foodbanks across the region. By the end of July it will have distributed food with a wholesale value of around £100000 and has plans to extend the scheme as demands on foodbanks continue to rise.

Doncaster St Leger Rotary Club has partnered with its sister club, Doncaster Rotary, to support the scheme. Says Lis Rodgers, of St Leger: “We could see that the Covid-19 pandemic was having a devastating effect on some of the most vulnerable people in our community. We knew of the excellent work that Doncaster Foodbank was doing and so pledged to help. As part of the bigger Rotary4foodbanks initiative to bulk buy, the money we donate works harder, goes further, to help ensure no-one in the borough goes hungry.”

The club is well known in the borough for its charity work. Amongst many other initiatives the St Leger Rotary Club also supports the local Firefly Cancer Awareness and Support charity. The club recently made a £700 donation to help keep Firefly’s services running during lockdown.

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