THE needy of Cambridgeshire are set to benefit from a £20,000 donation to a charity which hands out surplus food.
The cash from Barclays Bank will let the Cambridge Foodbank Project set up a city centre Foodbank and cover the costs of buying freezers and chiller cabinets.


Sue Roberts, Cambridge Foodbank Project development officer, said charities that used the service would be helped because it would free up funds to use in other areas.


She said: “The Barclays donation is fantastic because it will enable us to set up the operation in Cambridge.
“We offer an effective alternative to the disposal of surplus provisions.


“It will help the health problems of those in need and ease the demands upon the resources of the local charities who cater for them.


“We have also received funding from the landfill tax credit scheme, Cambridge City Council, student charity Cambridge RAG and other colleges and businesses.”


Alison Taylor, Barclays’ regional community manager, said: “The Cambridge Foodbank is and excellent initiative that fits in well with Barclays' Community Programme’s key theme of helping the disadvantaged and homeless.”


The Foodbank, at a site in central Cambridge, which is yet to be finalised, operates by collecting food that will otherwise be wasted, from companies such as manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and caterers.


Volunteers store and sort the supplies before it is collected by agencies that either cook and serve meals or send out food parcels.


The Foodbank Project is also on the look out for volunteers to either help out as drivers or in the warehouse. Contact the Foodbank

This article was written by Laura Matless and appeared in the Cambridge Evening News on the 18th of July 2001.


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