Bath City & Bath Foodbank 2014

City give a helping hand

Bath City FC have linked up with the Bath Foodbank to create a permanent collection point at Twerton Park. They have also made this weekend’s game against Wealdstone a fundraiser for the Twerton based charity on Saturday 20th Decemeber.

There will be buckets going around the ground during the match for cash donations and a permanent donation basket has been installed in Charlie’s Bar for food donations at the match and in the future. There is set to be a bumper crowd at the game this weekend as Bath City welcome the Wealdstone Raider and 100 or so loyal fans to the City.

Bath Foodbank started up in the summer of 2011 and works on a voucher system. Vouchers are given out by local charities, social and health services, churches and schools. Each voucher can be exchanged for three days’ meals for the household. The food is packed according to a list appropriate to the size of the household. In Bath, 45% of vouchers are given out because of benefit delays and changes; 33% because of debt or low income. High heating costs, sickness, job loss and domestic violence are some of the other causes of households suffering and going short of food.

Bath City foodbank 3
Dan Bowman helping to load a car with donations

Three days is the period assessed as being the minimum time it takes for a client to receive longer-term assistance. Last financial year in the Twerton ward of Bath alone, 287 households received aid from Bath Foodbank. These households included 146 children. In total we’ve handed out 88 tonnes of food since we set up.

Bath Foodbank relies heavily on donations. They are currently fundraising to pay for a fourth storage container and need another £3000 so they can pay for it rather than lease. They can only collect food that’s on their “shopping lists” – all long-life, tinned or dried foods. The items that they are consistently short of are tinned meat products, long-life milk, long-life fruit juice, sugar, instant mashed potato, tinned sponge pudding and chocolate.

Bath City City foodbank Dan Bowman Marc Thomas
City player Dan Bowman and some of the foodbank volunteers

Bath City player Dan Bowman along with Chairman Paul Williams and Commercial Manager Bob Chester were at Rose Cottage earlier in the week helping pack deliveries for those that desperately need food at this time of year especially.

So please give a food donation or a cash donation this weekend to help the charity achieve their goal in buying their own storage unit which will ensure the longevity of the project to help more people in Bath.

More information on Bath Foodbank can be found on their Twitter account or their website

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