East Bristol Foodbank (one of our projects) has experienced more than an 100% increase of people in need of emergency food parcels since the covid-19 crisis started. We are supporting three emergency foodbanks (delivery only) that have opened to cover Hillfields, Knowle and Filwood. We are providing food and financial support to these foodbanks.

The Wild Goose pop-up service running outside Stapleton Road Chapel is continuing to serve takeaway drinks and snacks to our usual service users. On the first day, they served 70 people and they are continuing to see between 50 - 60 people.

We are operating under government instructions of social distancing for all involved in the projects; service users, volunteers and staff. This has caused additional and unplanned costs for us e.g. disposable gloves, masks, disposable cups and packing boxes for food parcels. The Foodbank team has moved to a delivery service to decrease the numbers of people visiting outlets. This has increased fuel costs monumentally.

As a charity, one of our income streams is from fundraising events and supporters doing sponsored challenges. In the current crisis, and for the foreseeable future, these events and challenges have been cancelled.

At present, we are focusing on the immediate and ongoing effects of the covid-19 crisis, but the long term effects for homeless and vulnerable people in Bristol are yet to be seen. We will need your donations to ensure we can remain to be there for those who need us most.