Thanet council has launched a community fundraiser on behalf of the isle’s food bank services.
The Thanet Together fundraiser aims to raise almost £10,000 to support the work of organisations which have faced unprecedented demand since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
The food banks have been working flat out to meet the rise in demand for help and, as the weeks go on, many families continue to experience hardship and still need support from services such as Thanet Food Link, Our Kitchen on the Isle of Thanet, Ramsgate Town Council’s distribution hub, St Austin and St Gregory, The Gap, Glo Gen, the Salvation Army and more.
The Thanet Together appeal is asking those who can to pledge a donation and help raise just under £10,000. The deadline for pledges is Tuesday, June 30 and the full target must be met for any of the funding to be released.
All the money pledged will be given to registered food banks who support residents across the district or be used by the council to purchase items in bulk for those food banks, as well as for giving food and essentials directly to residents in need.
The aim is for established local groups to be able to continue to help those most in need at this time. Thanet council already donated £9,500 directly to food banks in the area.
Cllr Helen Whitehead, Deputy Leader of Thanet District Council said: “Extraordinary efforts are currently being made by local people to provide for all those who are affected by this unprecedented national crisis.
“Food banks are doing an exceptional job, but we want to support them as much as possible to help those in our community that need it. We also know lots of people want to find ways to help, and working as a central hub will help us to support those who are working so hard through bulk purchasing and distribution.
“To make sure that help gets to people using food banks across the area, we’ve agreed to act as a central hub for a fundraising appeal: Thanet Together. Thanet District Council has already made a generous donation but we’re hoping that together we can raise the same amount again.
“These are difficult times, and we want to do as much as possible to help people through them, and we know that our community does too. There are many ways that individuals can help currently; times are extraordinarily hard for many, which is why we are trying to create a centralised fund, but there are so many ways to help.
“If you can, please donate to help our food banks; but if you can’t, please, please remember that volunteering, supporting, being a listening ear for someone who needs it or simply taking care of yourself to make sure you and our community recovers well from this are all vital endeavours.
“Thank you so much to everyone who is working so hard; and if you can help to support those who are working so hard within our food banks, please do. Our community needs us, and whatever way you can manage to help, please remember you are hugely valued as part of it.”
Anyone who would like to make a donation to the appeal can do so via the Thanet Together fundraising page: https://www.spacehive.com/
For those unable to donate, they are asked to share the link.
We don’t want food banks, this is the 21st century for gods sake, we want solutions so people do not have to suffer the humiliation of having to go to a food bank. Billions of pounds are being paid to people to stay at home from work because of the virus, yet food bank volunteers are having to go around with a begging bowel to stop adults and children from going hungry,. What a sick sick world we live in. Boris if you only do one good thing whilst you are prime minister make it so food banks are never needed again. You said by leaving the EU it will save the UK £ 65 billion a year so it should not be hard to do.
Then again, Johnson was probably lying when he talked about Britain saving money by leaving the EU. So there is NO extra money coming that way.
Instead, we have several poorly-run stop-gap measures such as Universal Credit which doesn’t pay out for over 5 weeks as a way of punishing the claimants. So this generates huge demand for the foodbanks.
Also, the funds for helping the self-employed are difficult to get and many self-employed probably hope they can ride out the storm by getting a bit of extra work doing something or other, even if it means exposing themselves or others to the virus. Better to try that than rely on a government fund that is almost lost.
Only the 80% furlough scheme seems to have rolled out fairly briskly but the problem is that, as a result of years of low wages, many of us rely on that final 20% of our wages to actually live! The 80% goes straight away on the mortgage and utilities etc. It is the last 20% that provides the food and daily essentials. Take that away and the foodbank queues grow longer.
This country has been run into the ground for years. The NHS struggles to cope. Protective equipment was never purchased. The Care Homes are neglected and the staff are vulnerable without the right kit, and underpaid. Much of our workforce is so underpaid that a few weeks without an income means destitution.
And our businesses-large and small- are regularly stripped of funds to swell the bank balances of the share holders so that, when bad times occur, they have to appeal for government bail-outs.
We need a complete revamp of our society and values. Boris Johnson will not do that. He is the establishment’s man.