Charity raffle raises £700 for Chesham Foodbank

Almost £700 was raised for Chesham Foodbank as a result of the annual Chairman of Chiltern District Council charity raffle.

The first and second prizes of a food hamper, champagne and port were donated by the Chairman, Councillor John Warder, and the third prize of six months free gym and sports membership donated by Nexus Community who run the district's leisure centres.

Cllr Warder said: "The Chairmen of Chiltern District Council have a long history of adopting a charity to support whilst they are in office. I chose something local; something that helps the most vulnerable people; one our community can get behind.

"Chesham Foodbank meet all this and more. I am honoured to be in a position to give them support and have been delighted with the generosity of the people who bought tickets for my Christmas raffle. I will continue do all I can during my time as Chairman to raise funds to ensure Chesham Foodbank continues to be able to carry out the amazing work it is doing."

About Chesham Foodbank

Chesham Foodbank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks and was initiated by St Mary's Church in Chesham but has now the support of Churches Together from Chesham and is operated from an annex of St Mary's Church.

The foodbank provides food boxes containing three days of nutritionally  balanced, nonperishable food to help local people during the early stages of a crisis (bereavement, redundancy, benefit delays or cuts, sickness, relationship breakdown, homelessness or other reasons) before agencies can help with their needs.

Often it can take six weeks before State benefits or other aid is available. At the time when people are most vulnerable, Chesham Food Bank (CFB) can provide up to three food boxes during this period to help tide them over.

Food donations come from churches, schools, community groups, members of the public and supermarkets. On receipt they are weighed, checked that they are within the use-by date and then put onto shelves in use-by date sequence and subsequently packed into food boxes. Each food box contains three days food and there are five different sizes, single person, couples, small family (up to two children), large family (three children plus), and homeless persons food boxes.

To get food boxes out to people who need them, CFB works in partnership with agencies such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau, Housing Interaction Trust, some social service teams, health visitors, Job Centre Plus, some Churches and other front line agencies who deal with people in a crisis.

CFB plans to extend its work out to other parts within the Chiltern District area over the next three months and they hope to work with churches and other agencies in Amersham, Prestwood and the Chalfonts acting as subcentres so that many more people in crisis in the Chiltern area can be helped.

If anybody feels they would like to contribute nonperishable food then this is being collected at the Annex of St Marys Church, Chesham. the annex is situated behind St Marys Vicarage.

For further details about Chesham Foodbank call 07974 927248.