About
About our foodbank
The Trussell Trust Edenbridge Foodbank started in 2020 after Julie Barry’s retirement as Parish Nurse and her God’s Hand foodbank was transformed into a Trussell Trust foodbank. Our Edenbridge Foodbank is one of the about 1200 Trussell Trust foodbanks in the UK.
The foodbank is managed by Dave, a pastor from Edenbridge, Sandra who organises the food supply and storage and Serena who manages the parcel hand-outs at the Foodbank Centre. They are supported by a team of about 15 volunteers who weekly make sure the food is collected, sorted, packed into parcels, transported and handed out to our clients on Tuesday mornings at Rickards Hall on the High Street.
Clients are referred to us from different directions, like Citizens Advice Bureau, schools and housing associations. They can come to the foodbank to pick up a parcel of non-perishable food as well as fresh bread, fruit and vegetables if available and non-food items like sanitary or cleaning products.
Most food is donated by the people of Edenbridge and the surrounding area, often while shopping at Waitrose or at the Eden Emporium gift shop on the High Street. We also receive donations via Morrisons Oxted. The foodbank volunteers also pick up bread from Tesco on Tuesday morning and buy fruit & vegetables from Waitrose or Tesco if we have gift cards or money given to us as donations. We receive Harvest Festival food from most schools and churches in the area.
Nobody who is hungry will leave the Foodbank Centre on Tuesday morning without food. We will help people get a referral for longer help, and we signpost people to agencies who can make their life better, such as debt advice from Crosslight.