PRESS RELEASE
Sherborne Food Bank celebrates its volunteers’ achievements
2023 marks the 39th year of Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), when Sherborne Food Bank joins thousands of charities and voluntary organisations in recognising the contribution volunteers make across the UK. With this year’s theme of ‘Celebrate and Inspire’, the Food Bank hopes to encourage more people to ‘be the change’ and get involved in volunteering in whatever way works for them.
This Volunteers’ Week, Sherborne Food Bank will be celebrating the incredible achievements of its 70 volunteers; thanking them for everything they do, while engaging with the donors, supporters and referral agencies who are essential to its emergency food delivery service. The Food Bank will also be sharing its plans to meet the critical, and inevitable, social and economic hardship challenges that lie ahead for many in local communities.
Sherborne Food Bank Chairman, David Kemp, says:
“Sherborne Food Bank faced an exponential rise of 47% increase in demand on its services in 2022, with 1901 emergency food parcels delivered. We could not have met this challenge without the support of our dedicated volunteers who, week in week out, collect food donations, shop for products, sort and pack at our depot and deliver to recipients in Sherborne and the surrounding villages. We also acknowledge the work of our volunteer trustees and managers who ensure we operate smoothly and effectively as a registered charity, with all that entails.”
The contribution of volunteers is often unseen and unrecognised, visible only through the positive impact of their volunteering. Moreover, the voluntary sector has never been more depended upon to support the most vulnerable in society. Sherborne Food Bank continues to play its part to help, as it has done since 2011, in the hope that the achievements of its volunteers will inspire others to join them.
Jill Warburton, Trustee for Volunteers at Sherborne Food Bank, says:
“Through the work of our loyal volunteers we have been able to raise the profile of the Food Bank, generating donations which enable us to respond to referrals for emergency food aid, while also helping young people by supporting breakfast and tuck clubs in local schools and youth centres. We plan to continue reaching out to other food poverty groups in our area, with the aim of working together to help those most vulnerable to the effects of the current cost-of-living crisis”.
If you are interested in learning more about the voluntary opportunities at Sherborne Food Bank please visit www.sherbornefoodbank.org
Notes to editors:
- For further information on local volunteering opportunities with Sherborne Food Bank, contact hello@sherbornefoodbank.org
- Visit www.sherbornefoodbank.org for details on what the food bank offers both to its volunteers and clients.
- To find out more about volunteering in England, visit https://volunteersweek.org/
- For the latest statistics on volunteering in England see: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-life-survey-202021-volunteering-and-charitable-giving as well as https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/uk-civil-society-almanac-2022/#/
Read about young Sherborne Food Bank volunteer, Isobel Blair:
[Image: Sherborne Food Bank volunteers, including Trustees, at a recent planning meeting]
