ALDI DONCASTER - ASKERN

Doncaster Foodbank has been open since September 2013 and provides free, short term, emergency, non-perishable food parcels for people identified as experiencing financial crisis throughout the City. Each emergency parcel provides a family or individual with a minimum of three days’ supply of nutritionally balanced food. Food is donated by schools, churches, businesses, and individuals or through supermarket collections. Our partnerships with local food retailers enable us to provide some surplus fresh food alongside the canned and packaged foods. As well as providing emergency food, Doncaster Foodbank provides essentials like washing powder, sanitary items, pet food, baby food (Not Milk) and toiletries. For the first 9 years of operation the community fed the community as supply matched demand, however since 2022, our shopping bills have steadily risen and the food bank now also relies heavily on funding streams such as grants to buy stock in bulk, to boost the drop in food donations which has been caused by the current cost of living crisis. Every client is referred by one of over 100 Doncaster front-line care professional agencies, such as Doncaster Council, Citizens Advice, Family hubs, School liaison officers, Probation officers, Health visitors, Housing and Mental health teams as well as social workers and other Social Prescribers. They identify people in crisis and issue them with an electronic food bank voucher code which can be exchanged at one of our three food bank centres, for an emergency food parcel. The food parcels have been designed by dieticians to provide recipients with a nutritionally balanced diet. Specific dietary requirements and allergies are catered for, and a client’s cooking facilities are considered, for example being homeless or living in hostel accommodation. Currently, those in need can visit us for provisions on: Tuesdays 10am – 12 noon, St Paul’s Church Wednesdays 10am – 12 noon, St James’ Church Thursdays 10am – 12 noon, Rossington Community Baptist Church (Holmescarr Centre) Fridays 10am – 12 noon, St James’ Church Each foodbank session is run by a team of dedicated volunteers who welcome service users to our centres and offer a warm drink and a snack. They work alongside a rotation of various topical, local support agencies who can advise clients on site and at further appointments, how to handle their longer-term issues and recognise when additional help is needed. Our food bank service is designed to be an emergency food provision service and as such, it is important to put clients in touch with organisations who can help them address the underlying cause of their crisis. We partner with Citizens Advice Doncaster Borough who provide us with a generalist advisor at every session, and we are committed to facilitating support for our clients and helping them to maximise their incomes so that they can break free from the cycle of food poverty.

The purpose of the trust is to advance the christian religion by preaching the gospel of God about his only son, Jesus christ. We are a Christian charity organisation that offer spiritual, emotional, economic empowerment volunteering and training opportunities to people in our community, especially the most vulnerable and deprived. Agape is dedicated to impacting lives through unconditional love and is committed to helping individuals and their communities. Helping people to; discover and maximize their potential, to develop themselves and those around them, bringing together communities and supporting them on their life journey. We partner with the local Council and other like minded organisations for Community development in different capacities.

The foodbank assists people who are in food poverty in a positive manner and helping all who are unable to buy the simplest of food items with enough supplies to get them through the week. Any resident can come in and ask for a parcel we just take their name and address and number in the household and see if we can signpost them to any local services that can assist them. A week’s food parcel, which normally consists of 3 bags of shopping containing items such as, Bread, eggs, cheese and milk along with fresh vegetables and potatoes with a further two proteins such as tinned meat or tinned tuna with either pasta or rice and tea or coffee, plus cereals and toiletries are provided. Owing to the cost-of-living crisis, we are providing a vital service to the community of DN6, we have this year supported over 400 households, assisted over 950 people and given over 800 hours of voluntary unpaid work. All individuals and families of all ages that are in short- or long-term need are welcomed by the Foodbank who have seen a doubling of people in need over the past year.