It was the SIGBI Day of Action on 13 July. The theme this year was poverty. Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists chose to focus on Food and Education.
In the week leading up to the Day of Action, two Soroptimist members Stella and Jane Barnes spent a morning at Byron Primary School sorting through 12 black sacks full of donated clothing. This was in preparation for the End of Term ‘Come and Take Free Uniform’ event on 9 July that parents had been invited to attend.
On 11 July we had our club meeting, and the speaker was Ruth Lindsay, manager of Medway Food Bank. This year’s word is ‘together’, it is about being connected and re-connected.
We heard that 15,153 people were fed last year, this is 0.6% down on last year. This is good news as their overall aim ultimately is to reduce the demand for the service. 217 people in 84 households across Medway were fed last week.
The only criteria is that people do not have enough money to buy food. Food parcels are given out which last for 3 days, they are nutritionally balanced. Parcels are only issued if a person has a voucher. These can be issued from various agencies, such as social workers, GP, schools, health visitors.
The food bank can also arrange an Arriva bus ticket for the person to get into town from outlying areas to collect their food parcel. Once in the centre, they are encouraged to have tea and a chat to help understand their issues so that volunteers can give advice and or direct to other agencies.
Ruth was thanked for her interesting talk and was presented with food and toiletries donated by club members for the Food Bank. A thank you certificate was received from the Food Bank.
