James, one of our volunteers, spoke to Grahame Reilly from Swinton insurance in Chester about their recent stall outside the town hall helping to raise awareness of Foodbank.
Early November in Chester: winter had arrived, hat and scarves were donned and the brollies were up. And members of Swinton Insurance and West Cheshire Foodbank were out in force under a rickety gazebo, adorned with the two companies’ respective advertisements, outside the city’s Town Hall. Both organisations came together to spread awareness of food poverty and the valuable work West Chester Foodbank does to tackle this enduring issue.
Despite the wind’s unceasing bid to upend our shelter, the Foodbank team huddled together around a table of sample donation items to discuss the event with Grahame Reilly from Swinton’s Chester branch on St. Werburgh Street. For those not in the know, Swinton is a UK-wide insurance retailer dealing with everything from Household insurance to taxi cover. ‘This is the first time our branch of Swinton’s has done a charity event like this. We sat down and brainstormed. We all agreed promoting West Cheshire Foodbank was the best way to help out our community’. As Grahame went on to highlight, working together with companies like Swinton Insurance helps them to increase business ‘exposure’ whilst simultaneously helping the Foodbank challenge food poverty.
‘It was a real eye-opener about people’s situations in all walks of life’, Grahame told us. Over two days, the Swinton team braved the cold to hand out Foodbank leaflets and to talk to Cestrians. Grahame hit the nail on the head about why these promotional events are increasingly important. ‘It’s not just homeless people who are in need. I spoke to people in employment who couldn’t get by without the Foodbank’. It is perhaps a misconception that it is only those without a roof over their heads that use foodbanks. Grahame added that, ‘we don’t see it unless we ask people, when we do these events’. It is through speaking to members of the community, that we can promote the work of the Foodbank and also offer support to people willing to discuss their struggles.
And there were plenty of people ready to candidly offer up their stories. Grahame spoke of, ‘one man who was behind on rent. He was surviving on £20 a week. He was in desperate need of the Foodbank’. Sadly, there were plenty of like stories that highlighted the continuing struggle against hunger in Chester and beyond.
However, through talking to people at the event, we were able to make an immediate difference. Grahame described how, ‘a lady came over to the gazebo after a day’s shopping in Chester. She had only four or five food items in her bag. She said that she had only been able to afford the cheapest goods in the supermarket. She asked if we could help her, so we suggested she go to Dial House around the corner to see if she was eligible for a food voucher’ [Dial West Cheshire is a service centre aiming to empower and promote independence to disabled people and the elderly]. Perhaps, that lady would have gone hungry that night if Swinton Insurance and West Cheshire Foodbank hadn’t come together. She also has a brighter financial future thanks to the partnership. At Dial House, to help her manage her finances, she also received advice on benefits she was unaware she was eligible for.
The promotional event is one that Swinton would like to be involved in again and there was talk of them helping out with the Foodbank’s Tesco Collection in Chester from 1st-3rd December. Sure, the event was a ‘learning curve’ for the Insurance retailer, but Grahame was keen to reflect on how easy Swinton as a business had found it to set up the event. All was needed, was a ‘quick phone call’ to West Cheshire Foodbank and also to Cheshire West and Chester Council- who gratefully didn’t charge the company to set up the gazebo outside the Town Hall.
The phrase that was repeatedly used about the event was ‘eye-opener’. Here’s to more events in collaboration with companies like Swinton Insurance, which offer invaluable help in spreading awareness of West Cheshire Foodbank and food poverty. Perhaps though, we could pick a few days when the sun is out!