UKSV donates food for Ringwood’s Foodbank and urges others to join them

While Christmas is supposed to be a joyous time of year, when friends and families get together to share wonderful food, exchange gifts and generally have a good time, many individuals and families in the Ringwood area can’t afford ‘wonderful food’, let alone gifts under the tree, to celebrate the festive season. Many struggle to put anything on the table on year-round.

Due to this, one local company, UKSV, is donating food for Ringwood Foodbank to help ease the food crisis facing vulnerable people in the coming weeks.

Ringwood Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust-funded national Foodbank Network, which, in the last year, provided over 1.3m 3-day emergency food supplies to people across the UK. The Ringwood branch fed 1,802 people, including 743 children, in the year to March 2018.

UKSV managing director Jeremy Shakerley said, “It is shocking that in this day and age, there are so many people living in such difficult circumstances. UKSV has been supporting Ringwood Food Bank at Christmas for several years now. It’s something we decided to do as a company.

“Our staff, their friends and families donate to this great cause and then members of our team go and pick the items that the foodbank really need, including special festive treats, in the hope that we can share a little Christmas joy at what can be a difficult time of year for some. With so many people depending on the Foodbank, we need more small businesses to get involved in a similar way.”

UKSV is a communications and production agency with more than 30 years’ experience of specialising in live event design, AV technical support and video production. They’ve been based in Ringwood since their inception. Supporting Ringwood Foodbank is one of the ways the company feels it is giving something back to the local community.

Chris Lee, from Ringwood Foodbank, added, “We really appreciate the support we get from UKSV and other companies at Christmas and throughout the year. We really couldn’t manage without them. This time of year is always extra busy. We try to ensure that those individuals and families who are in urgent need have not only the basic foods to get them through the festive break, but some special treats too.”

The Ringwood Foodbank distribution centre opened in July 2013. Such was the demand that distribution centres followed in Verwood in 2014 and Fordingbridge in 2015. The organisation is run by volunteers and depends almost entirely on the generosity of the public to provide the food.

The Foodbank provides individuals and families with enough food to provide healthy, balanced meals for a minimum of 3-days. Currently, in addition to staples such as cereals, pasta and tinned fruits, Ringwood Foodbank urgently needs toiletries – deodorant, razors and shaving foam for instance – and some Christmas items like puddings and chocolate.

To learn more about the Ringwood Foodbank and for a list of the food and other items they need, visit www.ringwood.foodbank.org.uk

For information about UKSV and delivering your donations, go to www.uksv.co.uk