Visitors and volunteers like foodbank changes
Maidenhead: Foodshare charity now offers more choice and flexibility
Maidenhead Foodshare has once again introduced some significant changes to its model – offering more freedom of choice to its visitors.
Following the success of its food shop introduced in the summer, where voucher-holders can exchange these for their choice of food, Foodshare decided to trial a choice-focused model in the wider foodbank.
Now known as the Food Hub, visitors to the wider foodbank in need of emergency support can select their own items rather than receiving a pre-packed bag.
After a while, repeat visitors are directed to become members of the food shop, allowing them more items and a bigger range, including cleaning products.
“In the hub there’s a limit to what we can offer but they can get all their basics,” said trustee Debbie Gee.
“It just means that if they don’t eat tinned tomatoes, they can have tinned soup instead.”
The trial was ‘phenomenally successful’, she added.
“People are more willing to come into the Food Hub. They love that they can go around with a shopping basket and select,” she said.
“We do need more volunteers and I wasn’t sure how we were going to manage. But I can’t see us ever going back to selecting food for them.
“The volunteers love it because now they have time to chat.
“They feel they’re really helping people – talking to customers about what they want.”
Another change at the foodbank is the introduction of meal bags, which can include Indian meals, breakfasts, cold food and the like.
These bags of ingredients that can be assembled into a meal – some with simple instructions – and are proving popular.
“People tell us they didn’t realise they could put these things together,” said Debbie.
The cold-food meal bags that Foodshare offers, containing things like tuna, mayonnaise and sweetcorn are more popular, and help those with no cooking facilities.
‘A lot of work’ goes into trying to make these meals balanced and it can be quite difficult to do.
Foodshare is looking to put together Christmas food bags soon – hoping to introduce smaller bags with extras in December to help give people assurances of having enough food for the Christmas period in advance.
The foodbank is keen to receive supermarket vouchers which also offer its customers peace of mind, letting them pop out and get any extra bits they need.
It can also help people get a greater selection of less common items such as halal foods or alternative flours.