With a Wimbledon foodbank at ‘breaking point’, co-operative members have been thanked for their support after they raised more than £75,000 to help food banks.
The donation will be shared between 75 food banks which are currently supported by customers’ goods donations in Southern Co-op’s retail and funeral care branches including two in south London.
More than £48,000 was raised by customers swiping their membership cards as Southern Co-op has pledged to donate 2p to the pot per qualifying transaction.
Through the co-operative’s Share of the Profits scheme 2021/2022, a further £22,570 was donated by members. Colleagues donated the remaining funds from a one-off support payment.
Tiajh Walton, from Wimbledon Foodbank Team, said: “Foodbanks across the UK are at breaking point, the cost living crisis is affecting all of us. Which means with food costing more than ever, our food donations have dropped by 50%.
“With that being said, the demand for foodbanks is increasing, with more new clients coming to us than ever before. From all walks of life, single parents working full time to pensioners on such low income they can’t survive. We are now facing unsustainable levels.
“As we push forward and aim to support anyone in need, we look to our communities to support us. From local supermarkets, schools to churches, all help is appreciated, but this is urgent.”
The other foodbank in south London supported with donation points at The Co-operative Food stores is Croydon Animal Samaritans.
Between February and December last year, 17,566kgs of goods were donated to foodbanks by customers and members.
In December £40,000 worth of gift cards were also shared by Southern Co-op to food banks across the south to help families and individuals affected by the cost-of-living increases.
Holly Bramble, Southern Co-op’s Community Lead, said: “It makes me incredibly proud when I see how much money and food our customers have enabled us to donate to foodbanks. One food bank we spoke to reiterated that every tin of food makes a difference and I have seen this first-hand.
“We know times are tough and many foodbanks have seen donations drop whilst demand increases. So we want to encourage our customers to keep swiping their membership cards but we’d also like to thank all of the people behind the scenes at these foodbanks who make the impossible possible. Thank you.”
Members of Southern Co-op, which is a regional, independent co-operative, have also made it possible for more than £26,000 to be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian appeal. This was from Southern Co-op’s Share of the Profits scheme, and Southern Co-op donations based on the number of members attending the AGM and voting in the Board Election.
