RBS transforms HQ into foodbank centre in bid to help vulnerable
Royal Bank of Scotland has turned part of its headquarters at Gogarburn into a foodbank distribution centre to make sure much-needed help is available for some of society’s most vulnerable people.
The bank has teamed up with the Trussell Trust and Social Bite and is asking businesses to donate non-perishable food and hygiene products to help keep the two food poverty charities well stocked during the coronavirus crisis.
The Scotsman is also part of the effort to make sure people who are struggling for essentials do not have to go without.
The temporary distribution centre opened this morning in the conference centre at RBS’S Gogarburn campus. It is being staffed by volunteers from the bank’s workforce.
Malcolm Buchanan, chair of RBS’S Scotland board, said: “This is a challenging time for everyone in Scotland and we are delighted to work with The Scotsman,edinburghevening News, the Trussell Trust and Social Bite to help make a difference to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. This is a time when everyone can work together to help support each other and we are calling on the public and companies who have the time or the resource and to get involved.
“Our Gogarburn conference centre will become a temporary food distribution centre for the Trussell Trust and Social Bite, with many of our colleagues volunteering their time to support and help these groups reach as many deserving people and families as possible.”
The idea of using the bank’s headquarters as a centre to help some of the poorest people in Edinburgh came from Sheena Hales, a programme manager at Gogarburn.
She was among a group of women who stepped in after 350 workers lost their jobs at Livingston factory Kaiam just before Christmas 2018.
Ms Hales, from East Calder, said: “They thought there might be a lot of restaurants, pubs,officesandotherpremises which had had to close but had stocks of food they could donate,” she said.
“But Social Bite didn’t have the facilities to house it.” She emailed one of her bosses at RBS and the bank quickly said it could open the conference centre to help.
RBS’S catering contractors Baxter Storey and Benugo have already pledged to donate food from the bank’s kitchens. Ms Hales said: “We hope other organisations will follow suit.”
Items needed by the Trussell Trust’s foodbanks and Social Bite include cereal, tinned soup, dried pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes/pasta sauce, tinned or dried lentils, beans and pulses. Tinned meat, tinned fruit and vegetables, cereal bars, crackers and biscuits, tea and coffee, long-life milk and fruit juice, pet food, soap, hand wash, gloves, masks, toilet rolls and other toiletries are also needed.
The distribution centre will be open 7am-7pm every day, with a drive-in donation system for businesses to drop off goods. The volunteers staffing it will be kitted out with personal proactive equipment to ensure their own safety and that of others.
However, donations from the public cannot be accepted at Gogarburn because of social distancing rules. People are urged to donate instead at existing supermarket collection points.
Laura Ferguson, operations manager at the Trussell Trust, said foodbanks were a lifeline for people in crisis during the coronavirus pandemic.
And Josh Littlejohn, cofounder of Social Bite, said people who were homeless or in food poverty needed support more now than ever.
“We are proud to be working with the teams on this initiative to help donated items reach those most in need,” he said. Social Bite is aiming to produce and distribute 4,000 free fresh meals every day for the next three months.”