Good evening,

Apologies for being a bit later this week, as always an interesting week.

Today I got the call to help at our South Ockendon Distribution Centre, it is always a good experience interacting with our volunteers, understanding the issues they face and speaking to people we serve to see how we can get them support for their situation.

It is quite a humbling experience when you hear of people's struggles and situations.

I also met with the Mirror Group newspaper this week to give them an insight to our work and the problems people are facing. They were also keen to understand what support we receive and what else can be down to support us in our work. There will be some follow up discussions before the article is finished, but we do feel quite honoured to be one of three foodbanks from across the country to be selected to speak with them and give our thoughts on what needs to be done to improve the situation.

In our line of work, we never know the impact of the work that we carry out and the people we come in contact with.

As a non judgemental charity we look to see how best we can support people, in their circumstances, whatever their background.. A while back we supported a young rough sleeper in the area called Jimmy. We supported him with some bedding and food. Sadly Jimmy passed away back in December 2023. As a thank you thank you, the community donated £5,000 to Thurrock Foodbank as thank you for the support we gave Jimmy and the work we do supporting those looking for permanent housing. This reinforces the importance of our work, and the difference we can make to people's lives, but showing that we care.

Please find attached a copy of our newsletter giving an update on the activities we have been involved in over the past month.

With our donations remaining fairly low this week the team have been reviewing our store collections and seeing what we can do to enhance our collections and maximise the donations.If you can offer an hour or two at our upcoming future collections it would be very much appreciated. Either to join us either as an individual to join part of the team or to come as a small group you help would be appreciated. 

To help with this situation, and help replenish our stocks, we do have some store collections planned, so if you can spare an hour or two, either as an individual or as a small group, please do let us know.

ASDA Tilbury - Friday 19th & Saturday 20th September
SAINSBURYS - Chafford Hundred Saturday 11th October
PLEASE EMAIL - WAREHOUSE@THURROCK.FOODBANK.ORG.UK

Our shelves are looking a little empty, and we are still appealing for donations to help replenish our stocks: 
The items we have lower stocks on are:
Tinned Meats (curry's, Stew, Spaghetti Bolognese etc)
Long Life Milk,
Desserts (Custard, Rice Pudding, Jellies, Sponge Puddings)
Mash Potato
Tinned Fish
Tinned Soups
Chocolate
Tea & Coffee
Cleaning Products
Toiletries

We really value your support for our work as we seek to bless the community of Thurrock

If you require any further information or would to discuss any aspect of our work in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me,

Thank you so much for your support

Best Regards