April 2017 Newsletter
A bumper update to catch up, the foodbank has been busy. The release of I, Daniel Blake saw an incredible reaction with the campaign ‘We, North Tyneside’ that has and continues to support the Bay Foodbank. The time of Harvest festival and Christmas were approaching when our services would be sorely needed. Our volunteers rose to the challenge and we even saw our sorting area almost run out of walking space due to the sheer volume of donations we received.
‘We, North Tyneside’
The Jam Jar cinema put on a special showing of I, Daniel Blake on November 3rd. Volunteers from the Foodbank attended to watch our own Jackie Dickinson on the silver screen.
The film went on to inspire a Christmas campaign to help get more food donations to the Bay Foodbank called We, North Tyneside in North Shields. The campaign was started by Emma Webster who started the campaign with her sister Sarah Hall signed up more than 18 schools and a local hospital in North Tyneside to collect contributions from children, carers, parents and teachers. It was supported by one of the cast, Kema Sikazwe. It was a huge help to our supplies, bringing in more than 2000 donations and great for continuing to raise awareness.
‘We North, Tyneside’: Fundraising
A huge thank you to Stephen and everyone who has donated since his blog post went live. Stephen, like many others, was so moved by I, Daniel Blake that he wanted to support the work being done at The BAY Foodbank. Thank you to everyone involved! £270 in 24 hours overall he sent us a cheque for £1040.
You can see his blog post here
Thanks
We received this note in the post from someone who needed our help. It’s a reminder of why donations are needed and how very grateful people are when receiving a food parcel.
Also, thank you to Whitley Bay Football Club who donated a van full of clothes, food and presents over the Christmas period.
Harvest Festival
This was an enormously busy time of year when we received a flood of donations from schools and churches alike. Thank you so much to all involved.
Proctor and Gamble
A huge thank you to Proctor and Gamble for the copious donations of nappies, razors and more. The van was full to burst as you can see. Very generous!
Asda Benton
There are so many generous people out there willing to give a little (some customers, a lot!) to make a difference to people who are in desperate need this Christmas. We had an amazing day at Asda in Benton! Thank you to staff and the lovely Mell for hosting us, thank you to the best volunteers ever new and old for giving up their time (it was freezing!) Thanks again to police cadets and volunteers from McDonalds and everyone else who turned up from our Facebook call! The young lady in the picture even bought food donations with her birthday money. What a star!
EE
A big thanks to Amy Pickard and her colleagues at EE Team Welsh for their donations of gifts for teenagers
Reverse Advent Calendar
An idea to put an item into the box every day in the lead up to Christmas to donate to the foodbank was an excellent one that was well received.
Sainsbury’s Charity of the Year
Our time as charity of the year 2015-2016 at Sainsbury’s on Newstead Drive has come to a close. We’d like to say a well-earned thank you to the customers of the branch for their donations and the staff for their efforts. A huge thank you to Sainsbury’s for the money raised, clocking in at £3,996!
The new charity of the year is North East Hearts with Goals who place defibrillators and teach the importance of CPR. We wish them at least as much success as we had!
The Bus Stop
Our friends at Meadow well connected nearby invested efforts in creating a bus stop for the children of the area and although it suffered some damage to the roof and spray paint vandalism, the project was restored.
Kings Priory School
A thank you to Kings Priory School for all the effort put in to raising a fantastic £385.01. The funds were put to good use as we were running low on food during a busy 6 weeks holiday period.
The continuing mission of Dave Gordon and the allotments
We’d like to say thank you to the allotments involved in donating veggies to the foodbank and the regular efforts of Dave Gordon for collecting them all and delivering them to us. Thank you so much to everyone involved!
The gift of giving
At the Psychiatric liaison team Northumberland and North Tyneside, they had a great idea for Christmas. Instead of sending each other Christmas cards this team bought food to donate to the foodbank. Thank you for the thoughtful donation!
Formica
Thank you to Formica for hosting a Bay Foodbank collection point!
Wedding donations
Jamie and Catherine Dines told their wedding attendees to bring donations for the foodbank rather than wedding gifts. Just look at how much they brought us!
Thank you from every one of us at The BAY Foodbank.