Can You Lend a Helping Hand?

Christmas is a difficult time for many. As the cost of living soars, financial pressures increase, and many people look to their local pantries and foodbanks for their next meals. To give the gift of Christmas and support your neighbours, please take a look at the opportunities below.

Volunteer drivers wanted

Poole Pantry, an organisation that aims to help anyone on low income access food at an affordable price, needs volunteer drivers to collect food on:

• Sunday from Poole Aldi (by 1pm) and Sainsbury Talbot Heath (12-4pm) 

• Monday collection from Macro Poole (2-3pm)

If you are interested, please contact Mark Phillips, Chairman and Trustee of Poole Community Exchange, on mark.phillips@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Give a tin - or two!

Poole foodbank is currently experiencing a significant increased demand for food support, and stock levels of the following items are very low. 

• UHT Milk

• Squash / Juice

• Biscuits – preferably single packs not multi packs

• Tinned Garden Peas

• Tinned Carrots

• Tinned Sweetcorn

• Tinned Mushrooms

• Tinned Corned Beef

• Tinned Chicken 

• Shampoo / Conditioner

• Bars of soap

• Nappies size 3+

Christmas Hampers

Additionally, Poole Foodbank is looking to source the following items for Christmas Hampers for our most vulnerable residents. If you would like to help with the items below and give someone a special gift this Christmas time, please ensure your donation is delivered by Friday 10th December. This will give us enough time to buy the missing items for the hampers.

• Christmas Puddings

• Boxes of Chocolate biscuits

• Gravy granules

• Cranberry Sauce

• Stuffing

• Cheese biscuits

• Tinned Ham

• Pringles

• Crisps

• Christmas Crackers

• Sweet treats

A spokesman for the charity said:

“Poole Community Exchange is always looking for support in this vital work and would be very happy to chat with anyone interested in volunteering or donating." 

Manager of Poole Foodbank, Gill, and volunteers, Alan and Jane, said:

“Many thanks for your continued support.”

Every donation, no matter how small, will make a big difference to your local community.