BS3 Community Larder - update from Sarah Yates

Background to BS3 Community Larder
In the second half of March, I was asked by Rev Jacqui Kean, the curate of St
Paul’s Church in Coronation Road, Southville if I would become a member of the
core team for the new foodbank serving the BS3 part of Bristol. BS3 Community
Larder was initially suggested by the BS3 Community Covid-19 Response Facebook
group. The group, which now has over 5,500 members, asked St Paul’s Church if
they would be willing to host some kind of food initiative.
As the church was no longer able to host their congregation on Sundays, nor any
of their other groups during the week, it was felt by the clergy and church council
at St Paul’s that it would be a great use of the building.
St Paul’s is quite a large church and the space is very flexible because there are
no pews. Hence it is possible to spread out, have tables full of food with four or
five people in a team working very safely together.
Inside St Paul’s Church:
The foodstore!

The speed at which things happened was amazing! Within about ten days from
the initial idea, we were beginning to operate as a foodbank. This is all credit to
my fellow Core Team members.
We started with just a few referrals in the first week or two, but that has built up
over time and in our first eleven weeks since opening we have sent out 191
parcels and fed 748 people. The numbers referred have been growing each week.
“I was amazed at how quickly the Community Larder was put in place. I am really
happy to have been part of this initiative to help those who find themselves in
need because they are no longer able to support themselves or their families
because of COVID-19.
I am also constantly moved by the generosity of people. It has really highlighted
to me the beautiful community spirit of BS3.”
BS3 Community Larder Volunteer
The Team
St Paul’s hosts a team from Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and two of the YWAM
team had considerable experience of working in similar settings. I was asked by
Jacqui Kean to come on board to be the volunteer coordinator and to help with
publicity, promotion and general organisation. It was wonderful that each person
brought just the right skills needed and so we had our core team of four.
Fortunately, we also had five obvious team leaders (two are also part of the core
team) who had relevant experience and are very committed to leading a team
one day a week. This team has been absolutely fantastic with all the caring and
responsibility they have taken on for their team and with their willingness to
support each other throughout the week. They are truly impressive!
The foodbank office area within
St Paul’s Church

We began running the foodbank from Monday 30 March.
We had quite a lot of people registered as volunteers, who had offered their
services from the local community and some others from St Paul’s Church.
Through my work at St Francis, Ashton Gate and St Michael’s, Windmill Hill I was
able to publicise the Larder there and a few more volunteers emerged.
Towards the end of March, I was in touch with all the volunteers to sign them
up, make sure that they did the safeguarding training and to find out what their
availability was.
For the first two weeks, we ran the Larder for three mornings per week but
quite quickly realised that it would be better to run each weekday morning.
Slowly the numbers of volunteers have crept up and we now have getting on for
60 people signed up to be able to help. I use about 40 people every week for
the foodbank to operate smoothly. It is great that new volunteers are still
coming forward as people’s availability is changing constantly and creating the
rotas each week is a lengthy and challenging process!
The Process
Each Thursday, I send out rotas for the following week. However, even though
the team is in place, things change rapidly and every morning tends to be a
scramble sourcing volunteers to help with additional collections of food or to
take on additional deliveries to clients!
We have five volunteers in the church each morning. The Shift Leader and one
other volunteer arrive at 7:50am. Two other volunteers arrive at 9:40am.
A fifth volunteer arrives at 10:30am and stays with the team leader until the
end of the shift which is usually around 2pm. The other volunteers leave about
noon once most of the parcels have been made up.
Sometimes last minute referrals come in and it can be very busy getting
everything ready for the volunteers who arrive at 12:50pm to deliver to clients.

The church team takes delivery of donations from the community or from shops.
Everything is disinfected, weighed and the weight is logged onto the system.
Other food is quarantined in order to be weighed and logged a few days later.
Some fresh food is refrigerated or frozen and we have a whole wall of fridges and
freezers which have been donated or lent to the Larder by various organisations.
Many streets now have WhatsApp groups in which they share what our needs are,
make collections and bring the food donations along to St Paul’s Church.
In addition, with the money which people have kindly given, we are able to place
food orders from a supermarket.
Later in the morning, as we make up the parcels, the food is weighed again and
this is logged out on the system by the volunteers in the church.
Disinfecting and weighing station.
The food is logged in each day.
A wall of fridges and freezers
“I started to volunteer at BS3 Community larder after the lockdown, just to get
out and have some structure in my life after university was cancelled.
Helping others gave me a sense of purpose in the crisis, which made me feel as if
I had something to contribute too.
Volunteering helped me see others in need during this crisis, and how my
problems were little in comparison to those who really needed the basics like
food...it also gave me a sense of community, not just where I lived or studied
but also as a greater community of Bristol as a whole. “
BS3 Community Larder Volunteer

We have a wonderful team of drivers who collect from stores as well as deliver to
the clients. They have been so willing to help with last minute requests and are
wonderful about fitting driving jobs around their home and work commitments.
Our drivers collect food from stores such as Aldi, Lidl, Marks and Spencer, Asda.
Some stores donate food to us every week. Each morning, the situation can
change rapidly as notifications from Neighbourly come in, and the drivers have
been very flexible and able to respond to last minute requests to go to stores all
over Bristol to collect stocks of food and toiletries.
We make a large weekly collection from Fareshare which requires two volunteer
drivers. People have been extremely generous with financial gifts which has
enabled us to do a weekly supermarket order. Our drivers collect the items and
bring them to the church during the mornings.
More of our drivers arrive at St Paul’s at 12:50pm to deliver the parcels to the
families. When we deliver, we are very careful to respect confidentiality, the
safety of our drivers and social distancing.
“Doing deliveries for the BS3 Community Larder has been a great experience. I
had to shut my business due to the pandemic, so wanted to help others where
possible, especially when my two youngest children went back to school.
All the clients I have delivered to have been lovely and friendly - and so grateful
for the help the larder has given them. Helping with the Community Larder isn’t
just rewarding - it feels like the right thing to do in these circumstances, as a
member of the community.”
BS3 Community Larder Volunteer
“It's amazing to see how much the BS3 Community Larder has grown and it's
incredible how organised it is when it was set up in such a short space of time.
So much work has gone into this, it's beautiful to see how we are all looking out
for each other. I'm really honoured to be a part of it. When I do return to work, I
am going to see if I'm able to carry on volunteering with you at least once a week
as it's something that I'd really like to continue.
Everyone deserves food, everyone has a right to eat no matter what their
circumstances are. Thanks for letting me be involved.”
BS3 Community Larder Volunteer

Referrals
We take referrals from organisations such as charities, schools, GPs and public
sector agencies. Each organisation needs to register with us as a referral agent in
order to be able to refer a client.
Each person or family referred receives a phone call from a team member who
has a current DBS certificate and has been trained to undertake the role.
The client will be asked what they require, so that parcels can be tailored to
meet their needs. Sometimes we are able to add activities for children and
flowers for the adults. It all depends on what we have at the Larder.
Each food parcel has enough food to make meals for three days. There are also
toiletries and cleaning products.
Food parcels, ready to go out.
“I remember at the start of lockdown, doing a panicked big food shop.
I felt reassured that we had food in the cupboards. We were lucky. I saw that a
lot of other families wouldn’t have that. For those struggling with food poverty
lockdown was going to be even harder. That’s why I wanted to help.
As a volunteer at the Foodbank it feels like a small thing but that my small thing
is directly helping feed people in our community and …… that’s a very big thing.”
BS3 Community Larder Volunteer
The referrals are growing week on week as the Larder becomes better known and
increases the number of referring agencies but also as the need grows in the local
community.
We envisage the Larder continuing into the future, though we are not yet sure
how it will develop. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to operate in
the same way.

Feedback from Clients
Our volunteers sometimes feedback after their delivery….
“It’s important that you know that people are very grateful for what you are
doing. This man hadn't known where he was going to be able to get food from for
a couple of weeks. He can relax now and get on with looking after himself,
without having to deal with those anxieties all the time. Without the Community
Larder helping him, he wouldn't be feeling that way tonight.”
BS3 Community Larder Delivery Volunteer
“Feedback from one of today's happy customers, whom we're supporting through
BS3 Community Covid-19 Response. He wanted me to thank you and let you all
know how much he appreciated what you have done for him. He is very grateful.
Great work.”
BS3 Community Larder Delivery Volunteer
The Future
The situation for everyone is changing so rapidly at the moment. Thus, it is hard
to make plans as the future is unclear. However we would very much like the
Community Larder to continue and we see that the need is there in BS3.
The organisation of the Larder is a challenge as people begin to go back to work
and we lose volunteers who have been really valuable to us. However new
volunteers register every week which makes it viable as time goes by.
We realise that the Larder will operate quite differently from the way it does
now. We have linked up with the city-wide foodbank network and are working
closely with the East Bristol Foodbank which is part of The Trussell Trust. This will
bring changes too, but ones that we will welcome.
Thank you
I would like to thank my colleagues and the church councils at St Mary Redcliffe,
St Francis and St Michael’s Churches for generously allowing me to use some of
my time, usually working for them, on the foodbank at St Paul’s. It is has felt
such a valuable and rewarding venture to be a part of.
Sarah Yates
June 2020