Black Country Foodbank in Brierley Hill is huge and you may be suprised to hear some of the numbers of people they are helping feed.
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00:00So Jen, how are you? I'm good, thank you, yeah. So Black Country Food Bank. Yeah. How long have you
00:04been here now? So I've been here nearly 13 years. 13 years, wow, okay. So I mean, in terms of Black
00:13Country Food Banks around this area, let's just say food banks around this area, 13 years, that's
00:18got to be one of the longest? Yeah, probably. We've been around since 2006 though, so yeah,
00:25what's a bit depressing about that is that food banks have been around for such a long time. Yeah,
00:29so what's, just give us a bit of a, what's the landscape like now and over those 13 years? Has
00:36it kind of, has it been increasing demand? Has it gone up? Has it gone down? Where are we at with
00:40it Jen? Yeah, it's been a massive increase in demand, like a huge scary increase in demand
00:45actually. The numbers of people, families, children, individuals, couples, people in
00:53employment who are accessing our services has increased year on year. So what's, you've got
01:01people coming to you who've got jobs? Absolutely, yeah, yeah, absolutely, in employment and that
01:05could be low wages or just still not quite enough to meet the monthly costs. Yeah, and we've got
01:12these high rental costs, high energy costs, yeah. What kind of percentage of people coming through
01:20you are kind of from a migrant background? We've probably got about between five to ten percent
01:26of our users are from that background, yeah. And your users, do you find you'll have people coming
01:33perhaps once or twice or, you know, or are they coming for like, when you see someone they're
01:37coming for a few years? How does that work? Yeah, probably not a few years, but I'd say maybe a few
01:42weeks up to maybe months now and that has changed because it used to be crisis provision, so people
01:48would come maybe once or twice, but because the drop in income has decreased so much, people are
01:55having to use our services more regularly, so we're having to put more support around that to
02:01make sure that we're helping people get the best options and support that they can. And with that
02:06increase in demand over the years, how are you coping in terms of getting your supplying and
02:10donations? Yeah, it's been a real challenge actually, but we work really hard to keep
02:16donations coming in and we work with schools, we work with corporates, we work with churches,
02:22we work with lots of organisations to keep those donations coming in and we're very, very fortunate
02:28in that we've got some great relationships with lots of groups and organisations who help us
02:33regularly. Yeah, have you ever kind of tried to put a figure on how many, roughly how many,
02:37food banks and soup kitchens there are in the Black Country? I know it'd be impossible probably
02:42but have you got a rough idea, do you think? Well, just let me try and work it out. If I think
02:47we've got 28 food banks, you want to be times in that by three or four, I would suggest, if you
02:55think of the little pockets of groups that are maybe helping with hot dinners or, you know,
03:01cooking a meal or a hamper or whatever it is. Yeah, so, you know, probably 150 if not more, I imagine.
03:10I imagine whatever I guess it's more than that. Yeah, so, I mean, are you just thinking I don't
03:16see an end to the need, the demand? I'm thinking that there needs to be some acknowledgement from
03:23national sources that how deep the problem is. Yeah. Absolutely, I think we can do so much on a
03:30local level and I think we're doing that but I think the extent of the problem really needs to
03:36be acknowledged on a national level. Yeah, and if there's one thing in terms of the donations that's
03:41kind of the gold dust that you don't get much of, what would that be? That would be long life
03:47milk. Okay. Yeah, so it's cartons of long life milk. We never have enough because everybody needs it.
03:52Yeah. So it goes in everyone's parcel, so it's one thing that we... And how many people do you have on the
03:56ground? Are you helping and kind of doing what you do? Yeah, so we've got, here in the warehouse,
04:01we've got 35 volunteers. Wow. But across the organisation we've got over 300. That's crazy.
04:09It's incredible. I would have never guessed anywhere near that. Yeah. Well, hats off to all those guys.
04:14Yeah, and it's a massive sign of community pulling together. It's brilliant actually.
04:21So are you, in terms of a food bank then, with that scale, are you the largest kind of in the
04:26area, in the Black Country? Yeah, definitely. I think we're the third largest in the country.
04:30Wow. Yeah. Well, hats off to what you do and all the people you help. I mean, have you ever tried to
04:34quantify the numbers? Perhaps you help, you know, the amount of people per year or... Yeah, yeah, it's over
04:4020,000. Yeah, it's absolutely incredible. I mean, we normally look at it in terms of how many meals
04:46we provide because that's easier. Yeah. Because if we've got maybe somebody coming back a couple of times.
04:51Yeah. So if we looked at meals last year, it's over half a million and we're going to hit a similar
04:57figure this year. That's just crazy, Jen. That's blowing my mind, that is. And you're in your best
05:03togs. You're off to do a presentation in a bit, aren't you? This is all part of the role, isn't it?
05:07It is, it is. So you have to speak to some people. What's that all about? Yeah, that's right. Some social workers who are based in Dudley
05:14and we are going to meet with them to talk to them about the services we provide and how it's
05:20best that they can access our services for the people that they help and how we can work together
05:25to make sure that people are getting the best service. Probably not Foodbank. If we can help them
05:32to get some help before they need to use Foodbank, that would be brilliant. Well Jen, on behalf of the
05:37Express and Starb, absolute best of the Black Country U people here. Fantastic. Thank you, Jen.
05:42Thank you. Thank you. So guys, you've got the wagon here to do your deliveries. Is it just
05:48the one truck you've got, Jen? We've got three in total. We've got two here and one in Walsall.
05:53Yeah, cool. What have we got on board? Some stuff that's coming today. We've got some hot chocolate. This is
05:57great for this time of year, obviously because it's so freezing and it's an alternative to tea or coffee.
06:02We've got some jam and marmalade and other essential items. And who's this fine strapping chap
06:09with you? Ronnie can introduce himself. Ron. So I'm Ronnie and I'm the warehouse manager here.
06:14Hello, Ron. And we've got Paul. Yes, and I'm a volunteer. What do you get out of it then, lads?
06:21Volunteering. What is it? Is it kind of just doing your bit for the community? What is it? Definitely.
06:26It's really satisfying to know that you're helping other people. And Ron, you'd echo that?
06:31So I'm blessed. I get paid for my job, so I'm blessed. I put credit to the volunteers who come
06:37every day and do the work for our country. Yeah, well fantastic. You all do a great job here, guys.
06:42Well done. How are you doing, guys? This is a bit of a corporate visit, I understand. It is, yes. So which
06:48company do you represent? We're from the Tipton and Cowsley Building Society. Good old Tipton and Cowsley.
06:52Cool, we like them. So what's it all about then? So your company lets you kind of have a day
06:58release to go and do some good work in the community? Exactly that, yeah. They encourage all the
07:03staff to get involved in different volunteering throughout the year. And today we're helping out
07:09at the Black Country Food Bank. Is this your first experience of seeing a food bank? I think for all
07:15of us it is, yeah. It's an eye-opener, isn't it? I mean, I've seen a few through my job, but
07:20when you learn about the numbers that they're helping, yeah, and I think it would be,
07:26it's good and it would be important for more people to understand what's going on. Do you
07:30agree with that? Absolutely. Yeah. So what you're going to be doing today then? You're going to be
07:34lugging some stuff about in a bit, getting the muscles going? I think so. Keeley's just taking
07:38us on a tour and telling us what's going to be involved. Yeah. Lots of moving, labelling.
07:44Sorting out our donations and putting them away, all ready to be delivered out to the food banks.
07:50Well, well done Tipton and Kowsley guys. Thank you very much. Our pleasure.