Good news! This week, the Ash Villages Food Parcels Team are celebrating a lovely donation of items for the local community. Volker Fitzpatrick who have constructed our shiny new Chester Bridge and J&J Palmer who have done a lot of the ground works, sent us a huge shopping delivery of items to put in the food parcels over the coming weeks. The Foodbank team were delighted to meet Alex from Volker Fitzpatrick and we hope you like our celebration photo!
“This is an amazing donation and will go a long way, feeding lots of local families this month.” Said the foodbank Project Manager. ” We cannot thank you enough. We are always working hard to appeal for donations, and raise money to fill the shelves. Your support today makes all the difference. “
If you would like to support the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project you are always welcome to donate items at Ash Manor School, Co-op in Ash Vale, St Mary’s Church (Vale Rd), or The Chapel (Wharf Rd). You can also donate funds online so that we can buy our most urgently needed items in bulk. (How about becoming a regular giver and sending us £5 a month?) Thank you for your support!
This week, we enjoyed a celebration tea party at the Chapel Peroject to celebrate 5 years of the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project. A lovely time was had by all, and thank you to everyone who baked, contributed, set up, served and cleared down. #TeamAwesome, as ever, much love to you all.
Who would have thought that a simple little Covid support project to help struggling families would become a fully fledged foodbank feeding 3331 people in 2024, and growing even more in 2025. Initially it was basic bread and veg – whatever we had donated – and over time we have fundraised and added more items, to make sure our food parcels give a good balance of nutritious items.
We have seen local needs growing and growing due to the cost of living, fuel crisis, cold winters, mental health crisis, unemployment, low incomes and rising rents. We cover Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham, and the population has grown here too, with over 2,000 more homes locally after all the new builds, so our local population has grown and some of our newest neighbours are in need too. We see you, we are here for you. We are proud to say that no-one in our community needs to go to bed hungry. If you have no food, and no money to buy any, call the church, the school, the GP, Citizens Advice, social worker, Guildford wellbeing team, or any other agency, and they can refer you to us asap for an emergency parcel.
More need in the community, means we need more help please! It’s hard to ask for donations when everyone is feeling the pinch… but here we are asking! The easiest way to make sure we have enough of each item on our shelves, is if our wonderful supporters donate funds so we can buy in bulk. If you would like to do this please consider a regular monthly donation, so we can budget carefully, and know that our community can always be fed. https://givealittle.co/c/7a47190c-ad4e-4cf9-8662-da844101a41c (donations link)
Another way to help is to donate the actual food and toiletries. There are collecting points for tins and packets at Ash Manor School, Ash Vale Co-op, at St Mary’s Church on Vale Road (in the foyer whenever they are open), or at The Chapel (on Wharf Road) on Wednesdays and Fridays 8:30-9:30 while the team are packing parcels. (Or contact us to arrange a time to drop things off 07730609446). If you’d like to know what we need the most, we have an App for that! ‘Bank the food’ is brilliant. https://www.bankthefood.org/
A huge thank you: We have had so many thank you messages from clients over the years it’s hard to choose the ones to share here. One couple cried with relief and gratitude – they had never needed help before and were so touched by the help they received. Another family said that we have helped them more than we will ever know. An elderly person was overjoyed to receive their parcel, and grateful that we were able to make a referral for other help from the warm hub toget her through the winter. One local mum was delighted to receive Christmas gifts for the children and then amazed to see that she had something for herself under the tree as well, her only present that year. Lots of people said a big thank you for the Easter eggs in their parcels last week, and we are always receiving lovely messages. Please know that every tin, every pack of pasta, every bag of laundry pods, or every pound you donate makes a real difference to a real family, right here in our community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We are grateful to everyone who donates, whether your donation is large or small, it makes a valuable difference. We also appreciate local stores and businesses, clubs and schools, churches and groups who support us with their kind donations too, which helps with an element of our parcels. Would you like to join them? Do get in touch.
And finally a huge thank you to the superstar team of volunteers past and present who make it all possible! They get up early to pack parcels, and stay up late to collect and sort donations. We have heroes that clean the fridges, dedicated delivery drivers, extra helpers at Christmas, champions who help raise funds, tireless helpers tidying, checking dates, taking phone calls, printing labels, making coffee, youth volunteers helping out, and all those many jobs that make it all work like a well oiled machine. We treasure each and every one of you! Thank you all.
A lovely 5 years of working together for good – here’s to many more!
Thank you to all the families, students and staff at Ash Manor School who donated for the #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject this Easter. You are community heroes!
These amazing donations were sorted by the youth volunteers on Thursday night and most of the items went into Food Parcels this morning, delivered to local doorsteps by our fantastic Foodbank volunteer team.
Donations included all sorts – from tinned tomatoes to Easter treats – what a wonderful help for our neighbours in need in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. Thank you all for your support.
#Community #Foodbank #AshManorSchool
Did you know? The foodbank has an Amazon wishlist here:
Donations of store cupboard donations can be dropped off at Ash Manor in the foyer, or in the donations basket at Ash Vale Co-op or at St Mary’s church (Vale Rd) or The Chapel (Wharf Rd) whenever we are open. Thank you!
Were you part of the local fundraising events in 2024? If you joined in with the Ash Village Fair, Ash Fantasia and more, we want to say a big thank you! As Ash Parish Council’s chosen charity for 2024 we have just received an amazing donation, which will help feed local people in crisis for 5-6 weeks, a huge help this winter.
The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project is a joint project between St Mary’s Church Ash Vale and the Ash Villages Support Circle led by Cllr Carla Morson*. We have been running the project together for 5 years, first as a covid crisis response and more recently it has evolved into our very own local foodbank for Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. Last year our amazing team of volunteers sourced, sorted, packed and delivered food for 1040 parcels, feeding 3331 people and also ran the Community Fridge which feeds many more people locally.
The team are celebrating this wonderful donation, have a look at the photos! Our charity cheque was kindly presented by Cllr Fiona White, Cllr John Tonks and Ali Watmore the Ash Parish Council Clerk. Thank you Ash Parish Council and thank you to the whole community who have made this donation possible. It will mean that we can support many struggling families in 2025.
Best wishes and thanks
Alex, Revd Neil and Carla
Cllr Carla and team fundraising at the Ash Village FairSome of our Foodbank Heroes in 2024Cheque Presentation from Cllr John, Cllr Fiona and AliFoodbank team celebrating the wonderful donation from Ash Parish Council
Note – if you are struggling and need help with a food parcel you can be referred to us via citizens advice, social services, DWP, local churches, schools and other agencies. We cover Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/
* note – Carla of course declared a non pecuniary interest (she does not receive any money from the project, but is one of the founders and leaders), and did not vote when we were selected as charity of the year 2024.
Please can we ask everyone to vote for St Mary’s with a blue token in the local Tesco each time you shop? Our “Fruit for Kids” project will enable us to put more healthy fruit in the foodbank parcels and also give out fruit at our toddler groups Little Lambs Library and Chapel Kids.
Please ask everyone you know to vote in-store with their blue token by Monday 31st March 2025. Every blue token helps. The more tokens we get, the more funding we stand to receive from Tesco for this simple but important project. Vote for us today!
Did you know? The Co-op offers members the chance to win £500 for themselves and £5,000 for their chosen local cause in their ‘Winners Share It All’ monthly prize draw.
A wonderful local hero right here in Ash Vale won in 2024 and nomiated the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project to win too! This means a £500 win for them and a £5,000 prize for the local foodbank! We are all celebrating this amazing donation, what a wonderful boost for the foodbank, and all the local people in need who use this lifeline when life gets tough. The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project is a vital lifeline to many in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham, and we cannot do it without the food donations and the funds to buy supplies. This prize made all the difference especially during the cold of winter, the time of year when we see lots of local families in need. It was a great help during the Christmas period when we had over 80 families in need in 1 week!
We don’t have photos of everyone yet, still waiting for a few snaps from the team, but here are some of the foodbank packing and deliveries team, plus local community champions and some of the lovely volunteers and co-op staff who help get the donations of food from store to foodbank in the evenings. A huge big community thank you to all involved!
Have you chosen your local Co-op community fund cause for 2025? Please remember to keep voting! Select us when you go online or download the co-op members app, so we are your chosen charity. Please choose https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/90078The Chapel Project ( St Mary’s) to keep supporting all the work we do at The Chapel, including hosting the community fridge and foodbank as well as the Chapel Cafe, toddler group and more. …And of course keep tapping your blue membership card whenever you shop in store for your own personal members prices and other benefits. That way, everybody wins, including you!
If you would like to donate tins / food directly to the Food Parcels Project you can donate in store in Ash Vale Co-op on Wharf Rd (basket by the tills), or at St Mary’s on Vale Road or The Chapel on Wharf Rd whenever they are open. Ash Manor School also has a donations box in reception. We use the app called “bank the food” to let you know what we need most urgently. Thank you for your support!
And finally – the easist way to support us without moving from your armchair is a donation online here: https://givealittle.co/c/7a47190c-ad4e-4cf9-8662-da844101a41c Funds donated for the foodbank go towards tins, pasta, fruit, veg, uht milk etc to make sure we can give every client a balanced nutricious parcel whenever they are in need. We can genuinely say that no one in our local community needs to go hungry while this amazing project is running. Thank you for supporting us and celebrating with us!
With all our best wishes and thanks from the Foodbank Team.
Wow!! A big THANK YOU to David Brown and all the quizzers tonight at the Victoria Hall! An amazing amount raised, and £426.50 of it is going to the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project, to support families in need locally.
Thank you so much, this will make an huge difference, especially during the cold winter when balancing the costs of heating and eating are a challenge for many.
Thank you for a super evening and see you at the next one!
Have you made a New Year resolution to help those in need in the community? There’s an app for that! “Bank the food” Have a guess – what’s the item we most urgently need? You can find out on the app.
Choose any foodbank to support on the app. Our local one is called the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project. Download the app here: https://www.bankthefood.org
You can also simply donate to St Mary’s in support of all our projects (community cafe, Chapel, toddlers, net zero programme… ) pop in or contact us to find out more.
We wish you every blessing in 2025. Come in and join us, any Sunday 10:30am for the church service and / or cuppa afterwards, we would love to welcome you.
It’s nearly time for our lovely team at the #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject to pack the Christmas parcels and take some festive cheer to local people in need. Your help and support with donations, funds, prayers and sharing this appeal far and wide would be greatly appreciated!
If you would like to donate food, toys or gifts , please bring your donations in by the 15th December. You can come to The Chapel (Wharf rd) on Wednesday or Monday 9am-2:30pm or pop in to St Mary’s (Vale Rd) on Friday or Sunday 10:00-13:00. There is a live list of what’s most needed on the App ‘Bank the Food’ if you need inspiration, or simply bring something Christmassy! We love to be able to give out all the Christmas classics from Turkey and parsnips to mince pies, pudding and custard. We also give our presents of sweets, chocolates, winter warmers, new toys, hot water bottles, socks etc, nice toiletries, … all much needed please!
If you would prefer to give funds towards the food that we buy in (fresh veg, turkey, milk, pasta, fruit, tins etc) you can donate online here: https://givealittle.co/c/3ijYS6zC4gbOGqwer2tmdY
We also need volunteers, for gift wrapping and deliveries 16th-20th. If you are interested please contact us on 07730609446 for more details.
Thank you for supporting us in whatever way you can. It really does make all the difference! Let’s bless our neighbours in need in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham this Christmas.
PS – if you are based locally and need a foodbank referral please contact your local Citizens Advice, GP, school, local churches, social worker, health visitor and other agencies who can refer you to us. We cover Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. Referrals must be in by 15th December for Christmas, We are closed 25-27 Dec while our volunteers take a well deserved break.
The foodbank team would like to say a very big thank you to the local Cub Scouts who visited tonight. They brought some wonderful, thoughtful donations, decorated our Foodbank Christmas tree and came up with some super ideas for a foodbank recipe book. You are very welcome to pop back to the Chapel for the Christmas Fair on Saturday so you can show your families your handiwork! It was lovely to see you all, come back again soon.
