New Foodbank going from strength to strength.

A new Foodbank has been created in Ystradgynlais to support people during the pandemic. The Foodbank is making good progress and is going from strength to strength.

Donna Davies from Ystradgynlais Volunteer Centre (YVC) describes the new Foodbank.

 "The Foodbank was launched on the 7th April and in the first three weeks to the 28th April   350 people have benefited from free food parcels. This shows there is a need and we believe this will grow as more people get to know about our service and as pressures on family finances increase over the following weeks

In mid-May we will relocate the main Foodbank operations to the YVC premises located opposite Tesco, Ystradgynlais. This will improve access and be highly visible to people. When relocated YVC intend to have a weekly mobile van service in the Penrhos estate, where there are high numbers of families and older persons facing poverty. The outreach van service is very popular in more rural areas where people / families have no transport or are unable to leave the house for a number of reasons. 

outreach van service

We are in weekly contact with local Councillors in the communities we serve. They have been very supportive and there are positive sharing of information arrangements to the benefit of local people. We also have support through small grants and donations -  Powys Regional Partnership, (just secured today) £6,200, Nant Helen (Celtic Energy £500) Ystradgynlais Town Council £800, PAVO £500 – plus individual personal donations -  the funds are used largely to purchase food.

Volunteers are important to the service. We have secured an additional pool of 50 volunteers over the last 4 weeks. Volunteers help at the Foodbank centre and outreach mobile and many are assigned to people who need help with shopping etc.

We are grateful for all donations to the Foodbank. At the end of each month we will publish a list of people names to thank them. We've published the April donations for all those who have provided consent. We do not specify the values, money or food, as it purpose is to thank all our donors or their kindness in helping people.

We have good relations with local statutory organisations (Social Services) and other support agencies where we supply food parcels to their clients and we identify and refer (by consent) people who visit the Foodbank. We also undertake a number of home deliveries for these agencies. Once a week we deliver to the wardens of Sheltered Housing Schemes e.g. Pont Aur,Ystradgynlais,for their distribution to tenants:  fresh bread, fruit and other fresh foods. We connect with local free food schemes -  for example the Wednesday free lunch deliveries provided by the Ancient Briton Public House to older shielding residents in Ynyswen and Penycae area. We provide volunteers to support their work and Foodbank excess supplies of breads, fruit etc. are also offered by the YVC to people as part of the free lunch.

Fareshare UK and Wales has been a source of support too, we have registered with the scheme and make full use of the benefits of maximising the surplus food chain. Both Tesco in Pontardawe and Ystradgynlais provide us with fresh bread, veg and fruit through these arrangements.

Partnerships are important to the success of the Foodbank, we are connecting with key agencies  such as DWP to enlist our support in distribution of information that can be shared with Foodbank clients about claims for benefits and other support.  

YVC can’t thank Sally Richards the local community Connector (PAVO) enough for her support and the invaluable connections and opportunities she pointed us to. She is a true ambassador for her community and we are very proud and lucky to have such an enthusiastic and professional partner."

Sally Richards PAVO Community Connector