School food bank supports families in the community

Staff, students and parents at Vale of York Academy are continuing to provide a food bank for families in their community who are in need.

The team at Vale of York anticipated that some of their families might be in need of additional support as lockdown hit earlier this year. Initially, basic foodstuff was provided by staff, but as the scheme proved to be a necessity to a growing number of families, parents of students at the school also offered their support.

A number of businesses and organisations are also helping out, including HOPING York Street Kitchen, the Clifton Moor branch of Tesco, the Acomb branch of Morrisons and the Clarence Street branch of Co-op.

To date, the school has provided over 100 hampers to more than 40 families.

Rob Orr, Community Coordinator at Vale of York Academy, has been managing the food bank on behalf of the school. He said “It was clear to us before lockdown even started that families in our community would face real challenges and that there was a need for something to be established for them. Staff have been incredible, continuing to donate food items and we’re hugely thankful to our parents too who are still sending in donations. The demand for food hampers increased over the summer holidays and we have seen another increase in demand during this second lockdown.

“We’re really grateful to the organisations who have offered support too, as this meant that we were able to increase capacity and offer a better quality of hamper, which included pasta, sauces, tins of meat, vegetables and fruit, soup, milk, tea, coffee and toiletries. 

“One of the school’s former Head Girls, Mia Edson and her mum, Kate, have been doing a ‘100 burpees a day’ challenge during the month of November to raise funds, whilst the family of three girls who have gone through the school have made a very generous donation through their family business. We’re just so full of thanks to everyone who has been so kind!”

“We are a school at the heart of our community, and we have a duty to support not only the children who attend Vale of York Academy, but their families too. The food bank just provides a little safety net for all our families as at any point, any of our circumstances could change.”

The school has a further collection planned in the lead up to Christmas.

1 December 2020

Photos:

Above: Students from Vale of York Academy packing food hampers;

Below: Ex head girl at Vale of York Academy, Mia Edson and her mum, Kate, who are doing a ‘100 burpees a day’ challenge to raise funds for the food bank.

Donations can be made to the Edson’s burpees challenge at Go Fund Me: https://gf.me/u/y6z2cb

1 December 2020