Wadebridge Foodbank feeds hundreds of Cornwall residents this Christmas
Demand for these boxes has risen by 50 per cent this year.
Volunteers are working round the clock at Wadebridge Foodbank and StoreHouse in order to provide hundreds of local people across Cornwall with a box of Christmas cheer this year.
The charity, which covers a large stretch of North Cornwall that includes Wadebridge, Bodmin, Camelford, Padstow and the surrounding rural areas, has been providing Christmas hampers to local people in crisis for the past ten years. But demand for their special boxes has risen by nearly 50 per cent this year, with ten days still to go until Christmas.
"Last year, we distributed around 100 special Christmas boxes. This year, we’ve already packed over 200 boxes, which will feed over 300 local people.
"Our volunteer team are working around the clock to sort, pack and deliver a special Christmas food parcel to anyone that needs them."
Jacqui White, Project Manager, Wadebridge Food Bank
The special boxes, wrapped in Christmas paper, are delivered alongside the usual foodbank food parcels, which contain enough dried and tinned food to feed a person or family in crisis need for around three days.
In addition to these basics, each family or individual receives special festive treats such as mince pies, chocolates, Christmas puddings, tinned meat and crackers, everything they need to celebrate the festive season.
“Christmas can be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can become incredibly stressful if you are struggling.
"We’ve had people referred to us this year that have never used a food bank before and who would never have considered that they might need to.
"Especially this year, which has been so tough for many of our local community, it is fantastic to be able to meet that need and lift even a little bit of the burden that being in crisis as Christmas can create."
Jacqui White, Wadebridge Food Bank
Members of the local community have been showing their support for the scheme by donating food and festive treats via the drop-off points in local supermarkets, organising collections in churches, schools and workplaces, and even asking family and friends to donate to the food bank instead of receiving gifts themselves this Christmas.
“We’ve been blown away by people’s generosity. We have one local lady who baked 30 beautiful Christmas cakes for our boxes this year.
"A little boy did an 18-mile sponsored walk to raise money to buy food. We’ve had donations from local businesses, and a group from Home Farm Trust even dropped in some Christmas treat boxes that they’d put together.
"It really is beautiful to see the local community supporting each other so well.”
Jacqui White, Wadebridge Food Bank
The charity, which recently moved into a new, larger premises in Wadebridge in order to continue to meet the rising demand for their services, has seen a 124 per cent in demand for food this year.
As highlighted in Simon Reeve’s recent documentary for the BBC, it is one of many food banks across Cornwall that is working hard to meet the increased need created by COVID-19 in their locality.
If you would like to support Wadebridge Foodbank’s Christmas appeal, you can donate food or give financially to help cover the cost of sorting, packing and delivering the Christmas boxes. For more information, visit the Wadebridge food bank website here.