MELKSHAM Food Bank could lose a significant chunk of its donations as supermarket giant Asda moves to stop unmanned collections in its stores.
A change to Asda’s company policy means that food bank collections can no longer be made without a volunteer present. A Melksham Food Bank organiser estimated that up to 20% of the charity’s donations come from the store on Bradford Road, but was confident that local people would make up for the loss.
A national online petition urging Asda to rethink its decision has been signed by over 85,000 people.
“Having volunteers in store is out of the question and would be a bad use of their time,” said volunteer Sue Henderson. “The store is open such long hours and only having the collection point available at certain times would be confusing for customers as well.
“We are disappointed to lose the collection point, but are very grateful for the support we have received from Asda. We’re happy with the donations we are getting. The people of Melksham are so generous and will find ways of supporting us; we are just aware that Asda’s decision will make things harder for people who want to donate.
“We did notice that there was more food than usual in the Sainsbury’s trolley this week, so it might be that some folk have gone in there to give donations, but it’s too soon to tell. We have ample supplies of food at the moment, so I don’t feel Asda’s decision will affect Melksham Food Bank’s ability to support those who need our help.
“For those still wishing to support us, we have other collection points in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, St. Damian’s surgery, Queensway Chapel Nursery, as well as most of the local churches. We are also very grateful for the support we receive from churches and schools, who donate produce from their harvest services.”
Before Asda’s policy change, the local charity could leave a collection point unsupervised throughout the store’s opening hours – a total of 100 hours during a normal working week. It now needs a volunteer to be at the store whenever it wants to collect.
Asda has said the new measures are to make sure collections are run ‘properly and professionally’.
A company spokesperson said, “We’re very happy to host food bank collections in our stores and we know that our generous customers and colleagues can make a huge difference with their donations.
“We welcome food bank collectors in our stores if volunteers are on hand to explain to customers where their donations are going – we know this also increases the amount of food donated.”
Asda did not respond to Melksham News’ questions about whether the company considered it realistic for volunteers to man the collection points during opening hours.
Melksham Food Bank is a charity started in 2007 and run by churches in the town. It provides basic food aid to people affected by crisis or poverty in the local area, in conjunction with organisations such as the social services, police and health service.
National food bank charity The Trussell Trust revealed last year that a ‘record number’ of people had used food banks run by the charity in 2014-15; aid was given over 1 million times, and saw a rise of 19% on the previous year. The figures did not account for the many food banks run by other charities and organisations, such as Melksham Food Bank.
Find out more about Melksham Food Bank online at www.melkshamfoodbank.org.uk
