Published: 15/05/2022
Our first donation this month will be to The Brightlingsea Foodbank a satellite site of Colchester Foodbank. As we are all aware foodbanks are becoming more and more vital and with the current cost of living crisis, it seems that they will become even more crucial in the coming months.
Win Pomroy, coordinator was over the moon when she heard of our donation, she has given us long list of items which we plan to deliver next week and has written the following;
Brightlingsea Foodbank was opened at the beginning of December 2015, following an article in the local Daily Gazette This detailed the difficulties encountered by anyone living in the town who needed the help of a foodbank. The nearest one was Colchester and people could not always afford bus fares or fuel for a car. Win Pomroy, newly retired and looking at trying to give something back to the community she and her family had lived in since 1970, contacted the manager at Colchester Foodbank – the rest was history! Brightlingsea Foodbank was born. Today, although in partnership with Colchester Foodbank, who pack our food with food donated from Brightlingsea, we run independently. The Town Council allow us the free use of the Parish Hall and we run a 24/7 service for anyone in need of food in our community & surrounding area. During the Covid pandemic, a delivery service only was put in place and a dedicated group of volunteers ran this for two years. The volunteers, with the foodbank since initiation, are amazing! During that time, with donated monies, we added fresh food to the food packs and introduced ‘top ups’ for domestic fuel cards or keys. We are now researching giving vouchers for out local butchers and greengrocers, so clients can have the independence to choose some of their food. It has been, and continues to be, a very fulfilling challenge to keep our foodbank going, but Brightlingsea Foodbank is now an accepted part of our community, albeit one that we really would like to see not needed in the coming years!
Colchester Young Carers
Young Carers are children as young as five years old, and any young person aged under 18, whose life is restricted in some way because they look after someone else on a regular basis.
There are approximately 10,000 Young Carers in Essex and 700,000 across the UK . They may be the main carer, or provide partial care for their mother, father, brother, sister or other family member.
The person being cared for may have a long-term illness, a physical or sensory impairment, learning difficulties, mental illness or be affected by alcohol/substance misuse.
There are a number of young carers clubs across Essex providing a fun and supportive environment for incredible young people to find some respite from the responsibilities they face. We are waiting to hear back from them as to how they would like to receive our donation so I will update you further next month.
