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Agape Care Foodbank has been running since 2011 in Spalding but only established a satellite collection point in Crowland at the beginning of 2018 following a year on year increase in people from the town travelling to Spalding to receive a parcel.
We now run a collection point on a Wednesday in Crowland Abbey from 1pm to 3pm. This confidential service is for anyone who has been given a voucher from one of our referral partners. Vouchers can currently be obtained from Rev. Charles Brown (211763) and Rev. Annie Billson (07984 187725) of Crowland Abbey, Abbeyview Surgery (210254), South View School (210361) and Spalding Citizen’s Advice Bureau (03444 111444). Please note that we do not condone booking GP appointments solely to obtain a voucher.
Since Agape came to Crowland we have issued 22 parcels, helping a total of 33 adults and 25 children so far this year. This is already well over double the number of parcels issued to residents of Crowland in the whole of 2017.
The number of people fed is thanks to generous donations from the community. Donations from Crowland, Long Sutton and Spalding are taken to our main food store in Spalding where volunteers make up the parcels ready for distribution. A supply of parcels for different family sizes is then taken to all the collection points to be distributed as needed. If larger parcels, or parcels to meet specific needs are required then volunteers will travel to Spalding on an ad hoc basis to collect these. Donation points can be found in Crowland Co-op, Crowland Abbey and the Methodist Chapel on Reform Street.
Everyone that works for Agape Care does so on a voluntary basis and an awful lot of time and work go into the day to day running. Volunteering for the foodbank can be a real double-edged sword- while we want to see it used by people that are in need, we also would rather no one needs us in the first place! However, the sad fact is that foodbank use has risen nationally year on year. The austerity cuts, pay freezes and the rising cost of living means many families are living on less than ever and just cannot cover basic costs.
If you have any questions about any aspect of the foodbank, would like more information about where to obtain a voucher, have concerns that someone you know may be in need or need to arrange collection of a parcel outside of our Wednesday session please get in touch. You can call us on 07981 690481 or by messaging us through our Facebook page.
Thank you for your continued support, without your help 58 people in Crowland would have gone to bed hungry in the last 9 months alone, and there will be more people from our area that are going to need our help in the future.
Laura Beeken
Local coordinator