June2020

An update on the Peeblesshire Foodbank
Fr Tony Lappin
Move to new premises - thank you, St. Joseph’s !
One of the hard consequences of the continuing lockdown damage to our economy
is the impact this is having on the weekly budgets of many local households. As
you may have read in the Peeblesshire News (22 May), there has been a great
surge in uptake of our Peeblesshire Foodbank. Increased demand, coupled with
Covid restrictions and other knock-on effects of the lockdown, have meant the
Foodbank has outgrown its former premises in Cavalry Park.
Fr Tony Lappin from our neighbouring St. Joseph’s parish, Chairman of the
Peeblesshire Foodbank, gives an update:
It has been a challenging time all round since the Covid-19 crisis began and the
lockdown measures were put in place. Overnight, we lost a significant percentage
of our volunteers, given that many are over 70 years of age and others have
underlying health conditions. And, of course, demand for food parcels increased
sharply, with an increase in demand of 85%. This has been due mainly to some
people losing their employment and Universal Credit taking five weeks to be
processed, children not receiving the usual daily meal at school, and in-work
poverty continuing.
Thankfully, we were able to recruit some new volunteers and our existing team
leaders stepped up to the mark by bringing in family members, with whom they
were isolating, to keep the service operating. However, as the weeks progressed,
it became increasing difficult to continue to operate safely and effectively from the
unit in Cavalry Park. Tesco have been most helpful in donating large pallets of
food each week. This, together with the continued donations from the good people
of Peeblesshire, made storage of stock difficult. The limited space also posed
challenges for volunteers to maintain social distancing.
So, along with our Neighbourhood Centre committee, I offered the Centre to the
Foodbank on a temporary basis so that the difficulties could be addressed. With
the help of the Peebles Covid-19 Resilience Group and Traquair House, the
Foodbank moved to our Neighbourhood Centre on 10 May. This move went very
well and having the extra space is proving to be very helpful. At the start of the
lockdown, volunteers from the Peebles Rugby Club came forward to help with
deliveries of food parcels and this has been a great help. The trustees and
volunteers of the Foodbank are now considering the developments necessary for
future sustainability as all the predictions are, sadly, that we will need the
Foodbank for many years to come. We are so grateful for the continued food and
financial donations that people make on a regular basis; the kindness and
generosity of so many is amazing.