By Nancy Brian Mbaya
The
support provided by West Cheshire Foodbank for people in crisis in Chester,
Ellesmere Port and Neston was consistently described as exemplary by the latest
quality assurance report from The Trussell Trust.
This
sentiment was shared by volunteers at the charity who attended a barbecue at
the weekend to celebrate their achievements at the Foodbank warehouse, located
near Cheshire Oaks. Volunteers
commented that the charity, which was established in November 2012, clearly has
a positive impact in the lives of the people who are struggling.
Speaking
about the work of the charity, Glen Lomax, who has been a volunteer with the organization
since it first opened, spoke of how his passion to help people who are without
food motivated him to join two and a half years ago. Glen
viewed the growth of the charity as an inevitable consequence of cuts to
benefits and commended local churches, community organisations, companies and
schools for their wonderful contributions to the organization.
Pat
Nalder, who has volunteered as an administrator, voiced her anger that so many
people living in Britain, one of the largest economies in the world, were
hungry. Decrying the injustice that more people should need to use foodbanks to
meet their needs, Pat explained how more families lived in “awful circumstances”
because of cuts to social security payments and benefit sanctions, explaining
that foodbanks were stepping in to the gap that this withdrawal of support
left.
Terry
Green, who volunteers at a foodbank centre, stated that, apart from providing
food to those who cannot afford to feed themselves, the charity has been able to
support many people who visit by ‘signposting’ to other organisations which can
provide additional support with, for example, finances, benefits and
healthcare. Adrian
Morris, who volunteers at the warehouse, noted that the success of the
organisation was reliant on the skills of volunteers, many of whom are retired
and bring an impressive depth of experience to the organisation.
The
barbecue was a welcome opportunity for volunteers to spend time together, to
share their experiences and to celebrate the results of the quality assurance report
which highlighted the achievements of volunteers.
 |
| Spending time together |
Volunteers
also took the opportunity to extend their thanks and present gifts to Steve
Sparrow, formerly the Operations Co-ordinator at the charity, who is moving on
to a new role in a Manchester-based charity working with refugees, and to
welcome Petra Greener, who will soon be employed as Administration
Co-ordinator.
 |
| Diane, Petra and Peter at the Foodbank Barbeque |
"I need help because I've had my benefit
stopped. I didn't know about the Foodbank until a few days
ago. When this had happened in the past I've turned towards crime.
This time I didn't have to do that because of the help of the
Foodbank.
