News

April 2021 Newsletter

21st April 2021

This month’s newsletter is a retrospective of all our achievements in the 12 months of lockdown, from the pandemic being declared to the way we had to instantly and completely re-model our service to delivery only, to all the amazing donations and fundraising efforts on the part of our local community. What a year! Click here to download a copy or read below. Remember you can also sign up to receive our newsletter directly to your inbox by submitting your email at the bottom of this page and you will receive it at the beginning of every month.

LOCKDOWN ANNIVERSARY AND EASTER SPECIAL 

We can’t believe it’s been a whole year since we first closed the doors at our Norwood and Brixton distribution points and transitioned to our delivery service, in partnership with other Lambeth Foodbanks. So much has happened! In the year since lockdown began we’ve fed over 30,000 people, delivering approximately 500 parcels a week. We’ve had to reinvent the wheel in terms of how we operate & provide the best support to the people who use us but we’ve done it. And we couldn’t have done it without you, our incredible supporters and volunteers who have exceeded all our expectations with your generous giving of time, money and enthusiasm!

This Easter we will be adding chocolate Easter eggs to every food parcel from our fabulous Easter egg stockpile pictured above. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this pile and a special mention to Lisa Walsh and the Holy Spirit Church for co-ordinating a mass Easter egg collection!

To acknowledge the lockdown anniversary and all we have achieved together in the last twelve months, we invite you to revisit each month in our lockdown picture gallery below.

We’re still in the early stages of deciphering what a post-lockdown Foodbank looks like but we are thankful for all your thoughts and ideas. As usual we will keep you posted with any developments as the year progresses.

For now we want to thank you again for your continued, unwavering support and wish you all a wonderful, relaxing Easter break.

The Foodbank Management Team and Trustees

Our distribution centres close in April 2020 and a delivery service starts from our Streatham warehouse. Emergency volunteers are recruited to help us sort food. We record a 134% increase in food bank use in April.
May 2020 sees new staff added including our delivery drivers Reg (above) and Pat. Vans are loaned from Focus Lighting and British Gas and a partnership is formed with the Vauxhall, Waterloo and Clapham Park Foodbanks.
In June 2020, our warehouse gets a revamp and masks, gloves and cardboard boxes are donated on mass. Two fire engines arrive to pick up food to deliver to a neighbouring Foodbank.
July 2020 sees Crystal Palace FC promote our ‘Text to Donate’ service during a live game. We also launch our ‘time for a cuppa’ initiative, encouraging our guests to call us for support.
In August 2020, we say a fond farewell to Roy and his iconic British Gas delivery van. We give out 35 tonnes but only have 27 tonnes donated.
More volunteers join us in September 2020. We open our doors to offer form filling assistance and launch our new Instagram account @norwoodandbrixtonfoodbank.
By October 2020 we feed 16,000 people across Lambeth using over 300 volunteers and distribute over 170 tonnes of food. We also make this short video.
November 2020 figures show emergency food deliveries have increased by 130% since lockdown began. In anticipation of Christmas, 300 homemade stars are created to go into our Christmas parcels.
Hundreds of food parcels are delivered to clients in the run up to Christmas, culminating with over 1,000 present filled parcels during Christmas week!
In January 2021, Keir Starmer visits our South London warehouse to discuss the £20pw uplift to Universal Credit.
In February 2021, we celebrate with our Project Lead Elizabeth Maytom who receives the Lancelot Andrewes medal, acknowledging her years of dedication in serving the community through Foodbank.
And in March 2021 we need to give a massive shout out to Laurence Larryson who completed a gruelling 24hr DJ set raising an incredible £4,500 for our Foodbank. Thank you Larry!
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