Henry Bradley Nursery Infant School are registered to refer families for emergency food parcels from Chesterfield Food Bank. Please speak to a member of staff if this is something that we can help with.

Chesterfield Food Bank say ...

“The foodbank was there when we really needed it, it was an absolute lifeline.”

We don’t think anyone in our community should have to face going hungry. That’s why we provide three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to us in crisis. We are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.

About our foodbank

Here is an introduction to our project.

Chesterfield Foodbank is a registered charity that was started in June 2013. It is a franchisee of the Trussell Trust, (1400 foodbanks across the UK) and provides emergency food packs for people in financial crisis. The foodbank operates six foodbank sessions at Brimington, Hasland, West Bars, Whittington Moor and Loundsley Green. We also serve the Hope Valley area. We have a warehouse at Sheepbridge and 2 vans.

Local agencies issue foodbank vouchers to people in crises who cannot afford to buy food. The agencies know the people and can best decide whether they need emergency food. The foodbank does not normally make these decisions.

The people could be family, friends, neighbours and colleagues and include:

• Unemployed people seeking work
• Low paid, often part or full time workers
• People who are sick and people with special needs
• People recently discharged from hospital or other institutions
• Adults and children in difficult family situations
• People dealing with benefit changes
• School children on holiday and not receiving free school meals

The foodbank vans are used to transport donated food from drop bins in supermarkets, churches and libraries to our warehouse. Volunteers at the warehouse weigh and sort the food into groups and best before date order and store the sorted food in trays on pallets. The food is picked at the warehouse and delivered to the centres.

Clients bring their vouchers to the foodbank centres and our centre volunteers give out the food packs. In addition to receiving the 3-day supply of emergency food, the people are greeted warmly, offered a hot drink and a snack, and given the opportunity to find a listening ear and discuss their situation so our trained volunteers can signpost to agencies for specific help and advice.