UK Money Bloggers – Reverse Advent Calendar 2020
We can all agree that this year has been a shocker. As we hurtle into another national lockdown I think it is important that we remember everyone who struggle even when the country isn’t going through such a long and large period of change. Last year I took part for the first time and dropped off a couple of boxes of supplies for my local foodbank.
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.
In the last 5 years food bank usage has increased 74% and in a recent survey the top 3 reasons for using a food bank accounted for over 70% of all usage, with ‘Low Income’ related causes being over half of these.
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 1.9 million emergency food parcels, with more than 700,000 going 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 is 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 but it officially starts on the 3rd November. I have a plan to do something different this year, which will be made even MORE different due to the fact that we are going into lockdown, again. 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 feedbank.