Grantham Foodbank is moving its warehouse and distribution centre to the former Brewers Electrical premises at Greyfriars. The foodbank has operated from St Catherine’s Road since its launch in July 2011. With the generous help of Grantham Estates the more suitable premises at Greyfriars have now been leased. This will allow all of the food, which sometimes amounts to 4 tonnes, to be stored at ground level.
The new premises also allow space for the services of the foodbank to be expanded to include the provision of warm clothing and essential household items. Whilst not all families in crisis need help with these items a significant number do.
The move commenced in early October when a volunteer team from the Mars Company at Melton Mowbray brought trucks and manpower to re-establish the warehouse at Greyfriars. The distribution centre will remain at St Catherine’s Road until later this month.
Grantham foodbank project co-ordinator, Brian Hanbury says: “This move will allow us extend our work, beyond providing food help, to establish money management support and training, giving another safety net and tools for self help for those in crisis.“
Since its launch the foodbank has distributed some 50 tonnes of food from the St Catherine’s premises. This represents around 45,000 meals for adults and children in crisis in the Grantham area.
The Rev’d Ian Worrall, who is chair of the trustees adds “The work of Grantham foodbank really does depend on the generosity of the people of the Grantham area in giving food, time and money to support those in need in our community. On behalf of those we help ‘a big thank you and God bless’ to everyone who has helped in any way. In particular we would like to thank Grantham Estates and the volunteers from the Mars Company for supporting us through this move.”