Food Bank information

Food bank Christmas Opening Hours

Gorgie Salvation Army – South West

Monday 29 December 2-4pm
Friday 3 January 10 – 12noon
Monday 5 January 2-4pm
Friday 10 January 10 – 12noon

We also have a Christmas Day lunch and entertainment for those who are struggling alone or cannot have a Christmas lunch etc. It is from 12 noon to 3pm and places are available.

North East (not available via Advice Line)

Closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day and otherwise open as usual.

North West

Broughton DC – Christmas Eve, 10am to 12noon (note earlier finish, not usual 1pm).
Tollcross DC will be open throughout on Monday 29 December 2pm to 4pm.

South East

Closed 24th, 25th, 26th) Open on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 December (closed 31st, 1st and 2nd). Normal hours resume on 5 January

Broomhouse

Open Christmas eve until 12. There is then an emergency foodbank contact number on 0131 443 6223 available all throughtout Christmas and New Year and reopens first Monday in January.

Foodbank Christmas Opening Hours

Port of Leith Christmas appeal

Christmas Appeal Poster final

Barratt Homes launch festive food bank support

Barratt Homes has set up a foodbank collection point at their regional head office in Edinburgh.

The foodbank, which will operate until 19 December, has been set up in aid of Edinburgh North West and Central foodbanks, part of The Trussell Trust Network which provides food packs to people who are in crisis.

The foodbank collection point has been set up for Barratt employees, family and friends to donate urgently needed goods like coffee, UHT milk, custard, tinned meat and chocolate. The team at Edinburgh North West and Central foodbanks will make several collections from Barratt throughout December before processing the items and delivering to those that are in need.

Alison Condie, managing director Barratt East Scotland said; “With the party season commencing, we felt it was important to give something to those in need and we are delighted to support Edinburgh North West and Central foodbanks. We’ve had a great response from employees so far and we hope to donate a significant amount of food over the festive period.”

Ewan Walker, operations manager, Edinburgh Food Project, added; “We need to receive over 4,000kg of food each month in order to meet demand and this increases by 50% in the run up to Christmas when we give out extras such as mince pies and selection boxes. We really appreciate large companies like Barratt coming on board, setting up their own collection points. Not only does it boost food donations, but it raises awareness of our cause with employees.”

Barratt East Scotland’s foodbank collection will run until Friday 19 December.

Granton Food Bank: tons of support from Sainsburys customers

THANK YOU!

Sainsburys Blackhall would like to thank all our colleagues and customers for their support with our weekly collections of food for the Food Bank at Granton Baptist Church.

From January until the end of October Sainsbury customers have helped us distribute 9179kg (nearly 10 metric tonnes) to people and families in food crisis in this area. There were 521 visits to the Food Bank over this period.

Granton food bank said a big thank you again for Sainsburys Blackhall’s support.

Gail, Sainsburys Blackhall

Sainsbury’s Blackhall: making a difference in … Granton

We started to collect for Granton Baptist church at the end of January and it has proven to be a great success. Every Tuesday a member of Granton Baptist Church comes along to collect the donations of food so kindly donated by Sainsburys customers and colleagues.

This is Sainsbury’s colleague Lesley with one week’s worth of donations!

Gail

Sainsbury’s Blackhall

MP attends Food Project’s Open Day

Mark Lazarowicz MP visited Edinburgh Food Project yesterday to meet staff at its new warehouse operation and learn more about how it is helping people who are struggling to put food on the table.

Edinburgh Food Project runs two of Edinburgh’s five Trussell Trust foodbanks covering the North West and Central areas of the city.

The local MP said: “I was extremely impressed by the hard work of all the staff at Edinburgh Food Project who are providing a vital service to people in the community in food poverty.

“People come to their two food banks for a range of reasons, some because of delays in benefit claims or sanctions but there are people as well who are in work but are still struggling to meet ever increasing basic bills.

“The Government refuses to see this for the tragedy it is and whilst I can’t praise the staff highly enough I also hope to see the day when people aren’t forced to turn to food banks.”

Since opening in November 2012 Edinburgh Food Project has fed over 5,500 people in crisis with food packs covering at least three days – the equivalent of 50,000 meals.

As part of the open day they held a ‘Tinned Sponge Pudding Pyramid’ which was built with donations.

For more information about Edinburgh foodbanks go to

http://edinburghnw.foodbank.org.uk

£0.5m Emergency Food Fund allocated across Scotland

Funding aimed at tackling food poverty has been allocated to 26 Scottish projects

Deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced £518,000 of grants during a visit to Greater Maryhill Food Bank, which last week alone provided food to 131 individuals, feeding 52 different families.

Lead organisations Citizens Advice Edinburgh and Edinburgh City Mission will receive the bulk of Edinburgh’s allocation, with The Rock Trust and Bethany Christian Trust also receiving funding.

In April, the Scottish government announced £1m to support the work of food providers through the Emergency Food Fund, half of which has been allocated to the charity FareShare, which redistributes surplus food from retailers to charities supporting communities. The Emergency Food Fund (EFF) opened for applications in June, and today’s s announcement sees the remaining £518,000 distributed among 17 local authority areas.

EFF was established to support projects which respond to immediate demands for emergency food aid and help to address the underlying causes of food poverty, and grants have been allocated to projects that concentrate on preventing food crisis recurring, those that build connections between food aid providers, advice and support agencies and organisations working to promote healthy eating and reduce food waste.

The Trussell Trust charity said the number of people who used their food banks in Scotland between April last year and March this year rose to 71,428 – FIVE TIMES the number which used them during the previous financial year.

Ms Sturgeon said: “The amount of people experiencing food poverty in Scotland is simply not acceptable. Worryingly the Trussell Trust has seen a 400 per cent increase in people using food banks between April 2013 and March 2014 which includes more than 22,000 children using these services.

“Welfare reform, benefit delays, benefit sanctions and falling incomes are all having a detrimental impact on the people of Scotland.

“Today I visited Greater Maryhill Food Bank, which is one of 35 food aid providers operating in Glasgow. Working in partnership with other local agencies, our Emergency Food Fund will help food aid organisations, such as this one, combat food poverty.

“Most people recognise that the increase in food bank use is directly linked to welfare reform and benefit cuts, and this fund is another example of what we are doing to mitigate the harmful effects of Westminster’s welfare cuts. However, the impact is still being felt by the most vulnerable in our society.

“One million people in Scotland are now living in relative poverty after housing costs, including more than 200,000 children.

“What is even more worrying is that 70 per cent of the welfare cuts are still to come – Scotland will see its welfare budget reduced by over £6 billion by 2015/16. And some estimates suggest that up to 100,000 more children could be living in poverty by 2020 if we continue with Westminster policies.

“It is vital that we gain the full powers of independence in order to build a better Scotland – one that protects people from poverty and helps them fulfill their potential in work and life.”

Still time to donate food at Tesco

There’s still time to donate food items to support Tesco’s Neighbourhood Food Challenge.

Tesco is hosting a nationwide food collection from 3 – 5 July with foodbank charity Trussell Trust and food redistribution charity FareShare, and the group hopes that customers and colleagues will collect five million meals for people in need.

This is Tesco’s fourth Neighbourhood Food Collection since the initiative was launched in December 2012. So far they have collected 10 million meals for people in need around the UK with the last collection in December 2013 achieving 4.3 million donated meals.

Tesco will also be topping up total donations by a further 30%.

This weekend has been chosen because Tesco research found that “people are usually less generous in the Summer months than at other times of the year”. Only 7% of people surveyed said that they were at their most charitable during the Summer – yet many low-income families find the summer particularly hard as children no longer benefit from free school meals.

In July and August last year Trussell Trust foodbanks alone gave emergency food to 133,539 people, including 47,639 children. The charity expects demand to be higher this Summer.

Thousands of volunteers from the Trussell Trust and the FareShare network are involved over the weekend campaign, as will hundreds of volunteers from the British Red Cross. FareShare will distribute some of the donated food to some of the other 1,290 charities that it supports.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said: “As the research shows, people are more generous at Christmas when it’s easier to remember those in need. However, we are urging people to give generously once more and not forget that the summer is also a difficult time for many as they struggle to provide for their families during the long break”.

£0.5m Foodbank fund open for applications

Food aid organisations in Scotland can now apply for funding through the £500,000 Emergency Food Fund (EFF).

The Scottish Government fund is part of a £1 million investment in food aid, with £500,000 already committed to charity FareShare which redistributes surplus food from retailers to charities supporting their local communities.

According to figures produced by the Trussell Trust, the number of people who used food banks in Scotland between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014 rose to 71,428 compared to 14,332 people in the same period of 2012 to 2013.

EFF will support projects which respond to immediate demands for emergency food aid and help to address the underlying causes of food poverty.

Applications are invited for larger grants, up to four of which will be awarded at between £30,000 and £50,000 each. Smaller grants of up to £10,000 each will also be awarded, with £1000 being the minimum value for any individual grant.

Grants will be given to projects that concentrate on preventing food crisis recurring, those that build connections between food aid providers, advice and support agencies and organisations working to promote healthy eating and reduce food waste.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The amount of people experiencing food poverty in Scotland is simply not acceptable. Welfare reform, benefit delays, benefit sanctions and falling incomes are all having a detrimental impact on the people of Scotland.

“The Scottish Government’s Emergency Food Fund will help food aid organisations combat food poverty in Scotland by working in partnership with other local agencies. I urge relevant organisations to apply.

“One of the most depressing trends over the last few years has been the rapid rise of food poverty in our country.

“The only upside to this is seeing communities come together, gathering and distributing food for those in need. It is important that we support these people and organisations through initiatives such as the Emergency Food Fund.

“Most people recognise that the increase in foodbank use is directly linked to welfare reform and benefit cuts. Only an independent Scotland will have the full powers we need to protect people from poverty and help them fulfill their potential in work and life.”

Application deadline is w/c July 11, with successful projects due to be announced in early August.

Support a local food bank at Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s Blackhall are collecting in-store for the food bank at
Granton Baptist Church (pictured above).

Customers can buy an extra grocery item and add to a trolley at the front of the store. Goods are delivered to the food bank three times a week.

Sainsbury’s Blackhall would like to thank all their customers for their
continued support.