Leyland foodbank appeals for supplies and promises deliveries during crisis

The facility, based at the Wade Hall Community Association on Royal Avenue, is also offering to make deliveries to the elderly and vulnerable who are staying at home – and anybody who is self-isolating with suspected symptoms.

The offer extends to people who are not necessarily using the foodbank for supplies – but might need other shopping or prescriptions collecting for them.

Joan Musker, who chairs the charity, says that its 15-strong army of volunteers will do all they can to help those most in need in the difficult months ahead. But the priority for now is to ensure that stock levels are high before demand increases.

“With the shelves being empty in the shops, we haven’t had as many people coming forward with donations – and obviously we’re going to need more items in the coming months.

“We’ll have a lot of people self-isolating and even if they get sick pay, it’s not going to be much money. There are others who may be laid off work completely if businesses go bust.

“Then there are the elderly and disabled who can’t get out – we need to think about all of these people,” said Joan, who added that the group never wanted to be in the position of having to turn anybody away.

Joan created the charity two years ago – along with her friend Julie Gardner – after the collapse of The Leyland Project, a similar venture where she had worked for over 25 years.

She says that the current crisis will test the community association like everybody else – but “that’s what we’re here for”.

Stringent measures have now been put in place to protect the health of volunteers and those relying on the charity’s services. These include food being passed through a door to foodbank clients, with the premises off limits to the general public – and protection and precautions for drivers making deliveries to homes in the area.

The Covid-19 outbreak has also led to the closure of groups for children and the elderly, which were previously held at the association’s base.

Joan says that the Leyland community is “good at” the kind of response that will now be needed to help the most vulnerable – and she predicts that society might take a step back and look itself when the crisis is over.

“The response from the community has been fantastic so far.

“This will definitely change everybody – I think people will look at their lives differently and how they live them.

“I think this will bring back a spirit of people helping each other out, which is what we’ve always done at the community centre and what we rely on”.

DONATIONS NEEDED

These are some of the items that foodbank would like to receive:

Cereal

Tinned tomatoes/ pasta sauce beans

Tinned meat/veg/fruit

Tea/coffee

Biscuits

UHT milk

Fruit juice

Fresh fruitToiletries

Nappies/baby wipes

Baby milk

Baby food jars

Items for packed lunches

Spreads

Eggs

Snack bars

Items can be dropped off by appointment at The Place, 73, Royal Avenue, Leyland, PR25 1BX.

Contact: facebook.com/wadehall.centre