55 tonnes of thanks from the Foodbank

The Rotary Club of Rochdale, The Well Community Church, Mayor Councillor Peter Rush and Mayoress Monica Rush, Councillor Colin Lambert, Councillor Ashley Dearnely, Chair of the trustees, Iain Wight and some of the 80 friends of the foodbank say '55 tonnes of thanks from the Foodbank'

Rochdale Foodbank celebrated its first year of service on Friday 1 November with a lunch for all of its volunteers at Rochdale Town Hall.

The lunch, which was sponsored by The Rotary Club of Rochdale and The Well Community Church, was attended by Mayor Councillor Peter Rush and his wife, Mayoress Monica Rush, Councillor Colin Lambert, Councillor Ashley Dearnely and friends of the Foodbank.

Mayor Rush said: “Everyone is amazed at how things have grown over this year.”

Councillor Lambert added: “Without Rochdale Foodbank, some people would have been starving, and that is just unacceptable.”

Councillor Lambert also pledged the council’s ongoing support for the foodbank throughout the next year.

Over 80 volunteers are active in helping the foodbank each week and chair of the trustees, Iain Wight commented on the way that the whole community has got behind this Christian-led charity.

However, Iain saved his biggest thanks of the night for the borough of Rochdale. He said: “The numbers are totally extraordinary. In the 12 months since we opened our doors, we have been given 55 tonnes of food (55,000 kgs), worth around £87,000 and we have given away 47 tonnes to nearly 7000 individuals living in the Borough who were in a crisis.”

“We also want to say a special thank you to the 33 schools and 25 churches who have donated 8.5 tonnes of food from Harvest Collections during October. It is just brilliant.”

However, Mr Wight voiced his concerns for the future. He said: “We are still seeing an increase in clients every month – October was our busiest yet, with 396 clients helped. This means we need at least 4.5 tonnes of food every month to meet that demand. In simple terms, we need 100 bags of sugar every week – and that figure is repeated for another 20 food items that go into a food box.

“That means we need to keep asking the good folks in Rochdale Borough – whether churches, schools, mosques or other organisations - to give food regularly, as often as they are able.”

Rochdale Foodbank will be in Tesco on 29 and 30 November and in ASDA on 6 December collecting food donated by kind shoppers.