As the credit crunch bites, some parents in Tunbridge Wells are going without food in order to feed their children and pay bills. Nourish is reliant on volunteers and is a community initiative set up in response to the increasing numbers of low income working households who can’t make ends meet once they have paid their bills, and those individuals and families hit by welfare benefit cuts or unemployment. We provide short term emergency food and support to individuals or families in crisis. “No one need be hungry in Tunbridge Wells” is the aim and T&C Foundation, TW Borough Council, YMCA and TW Big Yellow Self Storage support the project. Foodbanks nationally are experiencing unprecedented growth as falling incomes, welfare spending cuts and increasing food prices find increasing numbers of families struggling to put a meal on the table. Bereavement or illness can also tip people over the edge. Even in affluent Tunbridge Wells there are many people living on the edge of poverty. Foodbanks can help prevent family breakdown, crime, mental health problems and loss of tenancies, but foodbanks alone aren’t a sustainable solution to food poverty. Nourish aims raise awareness of the problem locally and to provide support and signposting to clients, working with them to enable them to make positive changes and involving them in the ongoing development of the service. Nourish collects and distributes dried and tinned foods, pet food and basic toiletries and cleaning materials. Food parcels are distributed to those who have been referred by professional agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureau, Age UK, Town & Country Housing Group, Social Services (Early Intervention and Family Teams), TWBC, Family Liaison Officers & some GPs. We are adding more, plus community referral agents to link in with the most vulnerable. Do get in touch if you represent a group interested in becoming a referral agency. The public can help in three ways: by donating non-perishable food at our warehouse in Kingstanding way , Sainsburys,, Asda, Tesco , and other places listed on the website, donating money or volunteering time. Follow us, like us, share us on FB, Twitter (NourishFoodbank) or at www.nourishcommunityfoodbank.org.uk. Thank you! Nourish Community Foodbank
[email protected]
01892 548892.
