Donations pour in for foodbank

The Premiership footballer’s high profile campaign for the Government to extend free school meal provision during holidays - which was initially voted against but then backed in a U-turn last week - has resulted a flood of donations to the group.

Foodbank chairman Neil Ripley said: “It really has been incredible.

“The generosity of local businesses, groups, clubs and individuals means we are now awash with donations and, amazingly, are reaching the limit of our storage capacity.”

But, as people struggle with the economic impact of the coronavirus and the national lockdown, he added that more would be needed.

“We’re pretty full now, but come the New Year, we’re anticipating a greater need than ever,” said Mr Ripley.

“The people we help are facing the combined effects of a global pandemic, redundancies and rising food costs.

“Add in school holidays and Christmas, and this puts even the essentials of life out of reach for many.”

He said that managing the flow of food and other essentials in and out of the Thorp Arch warehouse can be a tricky task.

“We often have no idea what donations will come in and when,” he said.

“We’d love to work with local businesses and groups to help manage this and ensure that the generosity of our community is timed to help those who need it most.

“We live in such a caring and compassionate community, the last few weeks have demonstrated that in spades.

“We’re incredibly thankful for every donation.”

Before this week’s Government U-turn, its decision not to fund free meals brought a flood of donations and offers of free meals for children, across the area and country.

“School holidays can be a worrying time if you’re struggling to feed a family,” added Mr Ripley.

“Marcus Rashford’s recent high-profile campaign called for the government to extend free school meal provision over half term but when this plea was rejected by the government, local communities across the country stepped in to help.

“At Wetherby and District Foodbank, we saw the huge impact of what we called The Marcus Rashford Effect.

The Prime Minister personally phoned Manchester United star Marcus Rashford last Saturday to alert him to the decision to lay on £170m of extra funding for the measure to provide free meals to disadvantaged children during the Christmas holidays.

The money will pay for the Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support families over the season while the Holiday Activities and Food programme will be extended to cover the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks in 2021, the Department for Work and Pensions announced.

Anyone who would like to help Wetherby and District Foodbank’s should contact the group via: https://wetherbyanddistrict.foodbank.org.uk/

Those needing Foodbank help should phone the free Citizens Advice number - 0808 2082138 - which can offer support and provide a voucher for a food parcel.