Impact Initiatives has provided the Food Access Support Service since the need for emergency food deliveries became an issue during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 with people needing to isolate. We consider each individual’s food needs and preferences, where possible. Volunteers assist with emergency one-off food shops for people who are not able to get out themselves.
More volunteers are needed now – so please get in touch. And read on to see the impact this vital service can make. More information on volunteering and contact details.
Martha’s Story
Martha was referred to us by a local charity as they were concerned that she did not have sufficient access to food, meaning that she often went long periods of time without eating. She has significant mobility issues due to suffering with long term physical illnesses and also has depression, anxiety and brain fog, making it hard for her to shop for herself. In addition, Martha has significant financial difficulty due to debts and not receiving sufficient benefits to cover all of her needs.
When we first contacted Martha, she had no food in the house and no means to pay for it. We referred her through to the Community Hub, who allowed us to deliver her an emergency food parcel so that we could make sure she had initial access to food while we worked with Martha to tackle her longer-term needs.
We also referred Martha to a free hot meal service, to ensure that she had a hot meal each day of the week and reduce the pain and fatigue she often experiences in cooking for herself. Martha expressed that this also made her feel cared for during a time of need and on the days where she was not well enough to cook.
In the longer term, once Martha has received her PIP payments which she is now getting support to sort out, we will work with her to learn how to use telephone shopping delivery options to ease the strain on her physical health. We also hope to invite Martha to an in person online shopping tutorial, so that we can empower her to build confidence to shop online again without the risk of being scammed which has happened to her in the past.
Martha has been very grateful for the support we have given her and has just recently fed back to us that she would not be here today without the support of our service when she had reached rock bottom.
Volunteering with Impact Initiatives
Do you have time to volunteer with us and help support people like Martha? We would love to hear from you if you have any free time during the week. We have a small team of volunteers who we call on to shop and deliver food to people.
We are also planning to extend the service to support people to become independent in the longer term and be able to organise their own food requirements. Maybe like Martha, they may need advice and encouragement to shop online or perhaps others who after a long time in isolation, need support to get back to the shops.
We will tailor this to the preferences of each person and would like to get a regular commitment from a volunteer to carry these visits out so that the service user gets continuity from our service.
More information on volunteering and contact details
