UK Money Bloggers – Reverse Advent Calendar 2021
Another Pandemic Christmas – not what anyone wanted. Last year was hard work for everyone and people are needing support more than ever. This year will be the third time I take part in a ‘Reverse Advent’ for The Trussell Trust. Last year I took part, and the year before I took part for the first time.
My local foodbank has actually closed so I may not be delivering my donated food parcels directly.
This year The Trussell Trust supplied 2.5 million food parcels compared to 1.9 million the year before. This works out at about a 33% increase compared to the 20% increase from the year before that. Foodbank usage has nearly doubled in the last 3 years.
The United Kingdom is within the top ten countries for GDP in the world. However in every area of the UK the usage of foodbanks have gone up from last year’s numbers. This suggests that things aren’t improving and are actually getting worse.
Food Banks
The Trussel Trust has an aim to stop UK hunger. As part of this work they maintain a network of food banks across the UK. There is no north/south divide in the usage and all areas of the UK make use of Food Banks.
The most shocking fact is that out of the 2.5 million emergency food parcels given, nearly 1 million of them went to children.
UK Money Bloggers – Reverse Advent Calendar
The question is, what can we do to help? There is an active group of UK Money Bloggers who, for the last few years, has taken part in a ‘Reverse Advent Calendar‘ for the month of November. We all love an Advent Calendar at Christmas where we open a door and get a treat, well this being a REVERSE Advent Calendar means that for every day in November we add an item to a ‘food parcel’. At the end of November we then hand this over to our local food bank to help a family during December.
Why do it in November, you may ask? If we did it in December then the donations wouldn’t be available to people over Christmas.
How to find your local Food Bank
Once again, the Trussell Trust can help you. Enter your postcode on this link and they will show you the Food Banks in your area. You may be completely unaware that they are even there. Check out the times your local food bank is open as mine was only open twice a week for 3 hours at a time. If this isn’t convenient to you then check your local Food Bank’s website as they may have donation points at local supermarkets.
What to Donate
A typical food parcel includes:
- Breakfast cereals
- Soup
- Pasta
- Rice
- Pasta sauce
- Tinned beans
- Tinned meat
- Tinned vegetables
- Tinned fruit
- Tea or coffee
- Sugar
- Biscuits
- Snacks
However it is important you check your local Food Bank website to see what they need. This is what my local Food Bank currently advise.
The Reverend’s Reverse Advent Calendar
So we are launching this today on the 1st November. It will be harder to get hold of the food everyday but not as hard as it must be to be dependent on a foodbank. I will be posting on Twitter about this using the hashtag #FoodbankAdvent so you can see what I’m donating. You will also be able to use this Hashtag to see what the other UK Money Bloggers are doing.
Feel free to join us – there will be more blog posts outlining how you can help and other ideas to support your local foodbank.