Foodbank marks landmark events
The West Lothian Foodbank has celebrated its sixth birthday with an open day at the charity’s brand new warehouse.
In November 2012, with a cramped, former toilet block in Whitburn as a base and a handful of committed volunteers handing out tins of food to just 20 people in their first month of operation, the West Lothian Foodbank was born.
Six years later they have provided 210,393 meals to West Lothian people in crisis, thanks to the help of an army of 200 volunteers at ten distribution centres, 130 partner referral agencies and the generous support of local individuals and organisations.
All of this is co-ordinated from a newlyrefurbished, large distribution warehouse and offices in Deans Industrial Estate.
The foodbank celebrated its sixth birthday by hosting an open day at their new premises in Heron Square.
The guests were all key contributors to making the vision of the new warehouse a reality, including representatives of West Lothian Council, local businesses and local organisations.
Foodbank manager, Kathleen Neilly, said the event marked a special milestone for the organisation.
She added: “Today is all about saying thank you to everyone who has gathered here today.
“The warehouse facility here has been a tremendous step forward in helping our organisation become more efficient and increase our capacity for helping people in crisis.
“We want to say a big thank you to West Lothian Council for listening to our requirements and providing the right premises, in the right location for us.
“A big thank you to all the companies such as Red Hot Windows, Rexel, Powerlite, Rowan Timber, Howden Joinery and Peffer Paint who donated building materials, finance or expertise in establishing our office space here and upgrading the warehouse facilities.
“A big thank you also to all the councillors and people who have vocally and financially supported our work here.
“Last but not least, a massive thank you to the many local volunteers who have so willingly given of their time and talents to work tirelessly to establish this facility as a very efficient base for us to receive, record and distribute the weekly tons of food donations from the caring people of West Lothian to help the members of our communities in the greatest of need.”
Although the day was one of celebration, there was a stark reminder of the rising need for the services the foodbank provides.
Kathleen continued: “Over the past six months, we have seen an increase of 12 per cent in the number of people we are helping in crisis.
“So, we all have a lot of work to do to meet the needs of the financially vulnerable members of our society and explore ways of helping people get out of poverty.
“Our next big step forward will be improving our charity shop in Whitburn, to expand our service there and help make the Foodbank more financially sustainable. We have an excellent manager in post who has greatly expanded the reach of our charity shop and who has formulated an excellent vision for making further key contributions to the Foodbank charity.
“We have also received funding from West Lothian Council for a development officer to help turn that vision into a reality and enhance the services that the Foodbank as a whole provides, which is much more than simply the provision of emergency food.”
Today is all about saying thank you to everyone