Community spirit shining bright with Cambridge Regional College foodbank donations

As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to affect people in all areas of life, staff and students @CRC_College have come together to support their local community by collecting for local foodbanks in Cambridge and Huntingdon.

Michelle Dowse, Deputy Principal said, “We are living in extraordinary times and never before has it been more important to help one another.  As the job market becomes more challenging, we know more families will be struggling and hope our donations will ease some of the strains this winter and this Christmas. We have come together across our two campuses to collect donations and also with colleges across the country to support the FE Foodbank Friday campaign.”

CRC has committed to support the national FE Festive Foodbank campaign, which is seeing Further Education organisations around the country coming together to collect food and personal care items for local community foodbanks. Many foodbanks are seeing a decline in donations at this challenging time and are in need of support. As part of the FE Festive Foodbank Friday initiative, CRC has partnered with Trussell Trust, which has foodbank distribution centres across Cambridgeshire.

CRC dropped off the first donation to the Trussell Trust Cambridge warehouse on Friday 18 November. The College has set up a process of collecting items in ensuring compliance with Covid-19 guidelines and will be continuing with regular donations to the Trussell Trust, as we approach the Christmas period.

Margaret Saner, CEO, Cambridge City Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust, comments: “Cambridge City Foodbank is enormously grateful for Cambridge Regional College’s ongoing support through its FE Festive Food Bank Friday initiative and we are very happy to be able to work with the college on this. This year, as individuals and families in the city have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve seen rising numbers of people being referred to the food bank and the support of our community has never been more needed. Between April and September this year we have provided 4,377 emergency food parcels to families and individuals in Cambridge – a 7% increase on the same time last year.”

Find out more about the work of the Trussell Trust.