#Poole Community Exchange needs your help. Can you help to find people who can help out with this amazing project? #Volunteers #Donation #FoodBank #Charity

8th September 2020

About PCE

Poole Community Exchange (PCE) usually supplies food in the form of weekly community meals, served to between 10 and 20 people at the Parkstone United Reformed Church. Our aim is to support people who have been marginalised, are vulnerable or excluded. Though the Coronavirus pandemic has forced us to shut our doors for the time being, we have actually expanded our food provision to meet the growing need. Thanks mainly to FareShare in Southampton, in the first 5 weeks we managed to obtain 1136 trays of surplus food and distribute it to 250 hostels and refuges, plus 453 households, feeding an estimated 3351 people! We have also reached out to local foodbanks and others to help them keep their shelves stocked.

Helping the community during this unprecedented time has required PCE to scale up our operations. We have had to purchase another fridge and 2 freezers, and are using the kitchen, with its commercial refrigeration, our office and a meeting room at our Parkstone URC base, who have allowed us to use their premises for this operation.

Making these changes has been a challenge, but PCE’s staff and volunteers have come together with other local organisations to reach as many people in need as possible. This has been a collaborative effort, with the local Day Centre and Hall and Woodhouse offering their walk-in freezers for storage and Probation Services providing 3 vans and 6 drivers, as well as us being able to use the Lifeworks charity van. We have 16 volunteers, and two local employees being seconded to us, and have clocked up over 1,000 miles delivering and collecting food. We are replacing some of the many other sources of help and food needs across the region, which were from churches and satellite hubs which have closed because of Corvid-19.

We know that there is still work to be done. The needs of the community will only grow larger as long as the pandemic lasts, and we will rise to that challenge because of the dedication of so many organisations and volunteers, as well, of course, to those who have given us grants towards our extra costs. BCP Council have recently selected us as part of the Food Access Group for Poole.

Can You Help?

Here's a list of the help that we need now and the help we'll need in the future as we make some changes to our offer to help those adversely affected by Coronavirus, or other vulnerable people.

Wanted now:

Packers: To sort, prepare and pack individual food parcels, and/or trays where we deliver in bulk. We obtain between 2 and 3 tonnes a week of fresh, ambient, chilled and frozen products that need sorting and taken to appropriate storage areas as well as packing.

Volunteers of all ages and abilities. Activity takes place at Parkstone URC, Commercial Road, Poole.

Drivers: To load the packed bags and/or trays, from  Parkstone URC, Commercial Road, Poole, to their own vehicle and deliver to addresses throughout BCP and East Dorset. 2 or 3 hours at a time, to suit within reason. Expected mileage no more than 30 a day usually. 

Also drivers to collect from supermarkets with whom we have an arrangement to have their excess food, and to bring it to Parkstone URC. This is in the evenings, usually around 8.00pm, 6 or 7 days a week need to be covered.

Future need is for drivers with a licence to drive a transit size van (being purchased), or possibly a minibus, depending on what we can obtain, (this latter may mean a different qualification on the driving licence). It would initially mean (for either type of vehicle) a trip once or twice a week to Southampton to collect food, and occasionally twice in one day if there is excess food available. 

We offer £0.33 per mile, home to home for use of their own vehicle, provided they are covered under their own insurance policy. Some volunteers do it free.

Wanted soon:

Cafe/ Pantry assistants: To help in the Cafe two to three times a week for a couple of hours welcoming those who need food. The Pantry will provide one or two bags for individuals to help themselves to fresh, chilled, ambient and/or frozen food for which they will be asked for a small donation. (free if they cannot afford anything). Value £15 to £20 of food.

The cafe will be open for tea/coffee etc, and possibly ready meals, that will be microwaved and served to them, for a small charge. Volunteers are required for this. 

The Pantry/Cafe hopes to start within the next few weeks.

Home based volunteers: Who have some expertise in Marketing and PR, and to promote PCE locally on Radio, TV or  in newspapers or Social Media, to alert possible users or funders of our activities, both now and after covid.

Volunteer Co-ordinator: To help organise and recruit volunteers as we grow, especially as our offerings will change after the pandemic is under control.

Fund Raiser: A person who has knowledge of the grant funding world, or who would like to learn, as well as with ideas for other forms of fund-raising.

Trainer: A person or persons who have skills that they wish to pass on to those less fortunate, to enable them to get employment in assorted industries. We have a workshop for practical skills, and soon will have a completely refurbished kitchen designed to enable chefs to train others, or to cook community meals or individual ready meals for freezing or immediate use.

Chefs: For training  those less fortunate, to enable them to get employment in the catering industry, or cook community meals, by using our completely refurbished kitchen which is designed to enable chefs to train others, or or individual ready meals for freezing or immediate use.

Food Sourcer: Someone who is willing to find possible suppliers of excess free food, which could be growers, supermarkets or charities etc. Also able to negotiate contracts.

Treasurer: To replace the existing Treasurer and Trustee, sometime in 2021, or sooner if keen! Once pandemic is over, this job will be less onerous, though will still require sourcing and ordering any necessary equipment and supplies, as well as the accounts.

Please contact
 

Anthony Sherman
Trustee and Treasurer

Telephone: 01202 840142      
Mobile: 07971 660456   
 

CONTACT PCE HERE

Poole Community Exchange

Parkstone URC

Commercial Road

Poole BH14 0JW   

Charity No 1178207