At the Annual General Meeting of Basics Bank last Thursday it was reported that during the past year over 820 emergency parcels of food and other essential items were distributed in this area to support around 1800 individuals, many of whom were children. Despite the generosity of those who regularly donate food items through the baskets in church porches, a further £150 has to be spent each week on basic goods to make up the shortfall.
During the meeting delegates were given a forthright address by Lynn Lyons, the Director of the New Forest and Eastliegh sections of the housing charity Intouch, who can be seen on the right of the photo above wearing a white jacket. We feel that her talk was of such value and some of the particulars so disturbing that as soon as we have confirmation of her words we intend to publish details on a page headed "Homelessness" in the right hand column of our blog.
Deputy Mayor Jacqui England and Basics Bank Chairman Phil Wiseman discuss ways of advancing the profile of the organisation, which relies entirely on the generosity of donors for the tins of food and other items which are distributed to those in need, and for money to purchase essential things which have not been donated.
1 comment:
I'm so aware that every tree-lined street has it's shadows. If you wander slightly away from the grand architecture and seaside glamour of Brighton, you'll find areas named among the most deprived in England. I live in a little road in one of them. More than a third of children here live in households where none of the adults have full time jobs, or are solely reliant on benefits and charity. The Basics Bank here is brilliantly administered by Brighton and Hove City Mission: it has nearly ten times the clients it had five years ago. I'm very conscious of still having a roof over my head: my Mum used to say "there but for God's grace". You can certainly see that grace working through the good people serving Basics Bank.
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