Foodbank official launch to ensure no one goes hungry in Great Yarmouth

Photocall: Today, Monday February 17, at noon, in the Supper Room at Great Yarmouth Town Hall, Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth. Media representatives are invited to take photographs of/film at the official launch. There will also be a chance to interview the Foodbank volunteers and representatives from the council

Foodbank set to be officially launched to help ensure no one goes hungry in Great Yarmouth borough

A FOODBANK is to be officially launched in the Great Yarmouth area to tide-over residents left in crisis due to an unexpected change in their financial situation

Great Yarmouth Foodbank, run by volunteers and supported by the borough council, is a partnership between three local churches: Great Yarmouth Salvation Army, Gorleston Baptist Church and St Mary Magdalene Church, in Gorleston

All three churches have previously provided food aid for some years, but have now decided to join forces to form a joint foodbank, to ensure food goes to the most needy people in a more co-ordinated, targeted manner 

Now the foodbank, which is already issuing about 250-plus parcels a month in and around the Great Yarmouth borough, is to be officially launched on Monday, February 17th, when all the volunteers and key supporters will gather at the Town Hall, on Hall Plain

The volunteers continue to seek donations of food, drink and other everyday essentials, which can be left at the Salvation Army, in Tolhouse Street, on Mondays to Friday from  9.30am to 11.30am, and on Thursdays from 12 noon until 2pm: Gorleston Baptist Church on Mondays and Thursdays between 9am and 2.30pm, and St Mary Magdalene Church on Tuesdays between 10am and 2.30pm

The churches first started discussing the partnership during September 2012 - and started working together during March 2013. Donations are collected through the kind support of residents, as well as local supermarkets, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and the Co-op, plus the Great Yarmouth-based firm, Pasta Foods. The borough council provides secure storage for donations

At the local churches, food parcels are handed out on a short-term emergency basis to residents who have been given a food voucher by a local agency. The foodbank also provides a signposting service to help people get back on their feet

Liz Townson, one of the foodbank volunteers, said: "There has never been a borough-wide foodbank here, so it is vital that Great Yarmouth Foodbank is available to ensure the right people are supported during such distressing personal crises

"Many of the people we help have been affected by the welfare reforms, while others have lost their job and aren't able to adapt quickly enough to live on a low income

"These are all ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, which is why the public donate so generously - because they know it could potentially happen to them or someone they know"

Cllr Trevor Wainwright, the council leader, said: "The borough council already works hard with its partners to support those in tight financial circumstances - and this is a welcome safety-net to ensure the poorest in our communities and their dependents do not go hungry. I urge the public to continue to give generously to such a worthy cause"

Members of the public can contact the foodbank on 07786 952306