A foodbank in Failsworth which provides food parcels to hundreds of people every week is facing an uphill battle.
Volunteer numbers are dwindling and donation space is limited while its new premises, which would tackle these problems, is currently uninhabitable due to asbestos.
Lisa Gill and Gemma Blackhurst, founders of Breaking the Waves Foundation, which currently supplies more than 120 food parcels and feeds an average of 250 individuals per week in the community, said they are facing a multitude of problems which boils down to its working space.
The food bank currently operates from the basement of Failsworth Town Hall which is too small for stock and is inaccessible for both volunteers and vulnerable people who rely on their services.
As a result, the foundation struggles to attract volunteers and Lisa, who works full-time in-between volunteering, said it can only open on limited days and is forced to restrict its remit to a two-mile radius of the town hall as a result.
The cost-of-living crisis has already taken a toll on the community too which has only added pressure to its capacity.
Lisa said: "September was a tough month with the cost-of-living increase and school uniform bill. We saw an extremely high demand.
“We distributed over 600 parcels, putting meals on the table for over 1,000 local residents.
“Many families rely on us solely to put meals on their tables after they have paid their bills – they simply have nothing left."
She added: "A lot of our clients are extremely lonely and want to hold a conversation with our volunteers, however, due to the location in the basement, clients are unable to enter our current premises so it’s extremely difficult to do this."
The charity has since been given a new, much larger premises within the Zion Baptist Church, gifted to them on a rent-free 10-year tenancy agreement by Ebenezer Baptist Church, which would drastically expand its means of support.
The building facilitates extra space for more fridges and freezers, which would allow the charity to increase beyond its limited radius and stock up on more donations, and will also mean the community can come inside, chat to volunteers and collect food parcels in a much more dignified way.
However, the proposed building is riddled with asbestos which needs to be professionally removed, costing £4,000, before it can start operating from there.
Lisa said: "Once we are in our new premises, we can take more surplus donations and open possibly daily - and we can invite the community in."
Lisa and Gemma hope to relocate into the new building as soon as possible, or at the very least from the start of December, so the foundation can distribute its Christmas hampers.
"That would be amazing.
"We could also use the Christmas holidays to then prepare the building for January", Lisa added.
They are now appealing to the public for help to reach their asbestos removal target via a GoFundMe crowdfunding page, which can be donated to here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/to-remove-asbestos-from-our-new-building?utm_campaign=p_nacp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
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