Food bank opened to help Watford families

Food bank opened to help Watford families Food bank opened to help Watford families

Watford’s first community-wide foodbank, a charity dedicating to feeding people in a crisis, has officially launched.

Watford foodbank, which is based in Leavesden Green Community Centre, was officially opened by Watford Mayor, Dorothy Thornhill.

The organisation is run on a voucher basis, whereby parcels can be collected by families who are need of an emergency food supply.

The parcels, which provide meals to families for three days, are put together by donations of in-date food from charities, churches and schools. 

Steve Bolton, project co-ordinator, said: "I’m delighted that we’ve got this set up.

"Being hungry is dreadful, and it affects your ability to cope with all the other problems you are facing.

"It’s thanks to the generosity of the people of Watford that we have food to be able to help.

"It really is a community effort.

"The launch went really well and there was a very good turnout of people across the community."

The food bank is also looking out for a new warehouse to store food, as the current one it uses closes in February.

Steve added: "If anyone knows somewhere locally where we can store the food, I would love to hear from them".

Sally Russell, who is living in Watford, and offers support to the new food bank online and through donations, said: "We know that many of the people who will use the Food Bank have children, so we make sure we give out enough food for the whole family.

"It’s not right that we have children going hungry in Britain today, and I hope that this will really help to make a difference."

The initiative involves the Watford New Hope Trust, Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy and Watford Community Housing Trust and is part of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks, and supported by Watford Borough Council.

Comments(20)

OAC Bailiff says...
3:18pm Thu 11 Oct 12

hope theres plenty of vouchers as everyone will be needing food parcels soon as this country is getting worse everyday another year and this country is well and truly finished

Hornets number 12 fan says...
3:30pm Thu 11 Oct 12

OMG another Dotty photo opportunity! She looks pleased that the people of Watford need to call on charity food Parcels! This winter many people will have to decide whether to keep warm or EAT! What a Sorry situation for a supposed rich develpoed county to be in! The Future looks bleak.

Reg Edit says...
3:51pm Thu 11 Oct 12

The reason fuel bills are so high is because of the dotty liberal subsidies for green energy, which NONE of us can afford.

If we stopped all this green tax con we would all be able to heat our houses AND feed ourselves.

Given the choice between being green or being warm and eating food, I will take warmth and eating every time.

While I'm on the subject,how much do we give away needlessly in foreign aid each year when our own people are having trouble putting food on their plates?

Priorities Clegg and Cameron, priorities.

Sanity 750 says...
3:58pm Thu 11 Oct 12

If we didnt have a Mayoral system in Watford we would save well over £250,000 a year.

How many tins of baked beans would that buy?

OAC Bailiff says...
4:20pm Thu 11 Oct 12

well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much

TRT says...
4:49pm Thu 11 Oct 12

OAC Bailiff wrote:
well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much
Oh come on. David says he wants to wants "to spread privilege around". In other words make a new set of privilege to set the wealthy off against the nouveau poor.

Nascot says...
8:42pm Thu 11 Oct 12

OAC Bailiff.

Every single comment you post is littered with grammatical errors.

How many can you spot in?
'well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much”

LSC says...
9:08pm Thu 11 Oct 12

I'd be interested to know how the voucher system works; shouldn't that be published so those in need know what to do?

Not that it would help on here of course because those in need of free food because benefits won't stretch enough certainly won't have the internet or a telly.
But others could let them know if they are literally starving to death.

gangerman says...
9:26pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Nascot wrote:
OAC Bailiff.

Every single comment you post is littered with grammatical errors.

How many can you spot in?
'well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much”
Very astute observation NASCOT, that will help the great unwashed to be cleansed and the hungry to eat. Extremely saddening that in 21st century Britain there are people in need of charitable food handouts and all you can do is criticise grammar, but then "Nascot" says it all.

Hornets number 12 fan says...
10:14pm Thu 11 Oct 12

Nascot wrote:
OAC Bailiff.

Every single comment you post is littered with grammatical errors.

How many can you spot in?
'well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much”
The message and the feeling behind it is far more important than the grammatical correctness! Stop being so pedantic Nascot!

The Rover says...
10:38pm Thu 11 Oct 12

In future I am going to monitor Nascot's posts for grammatical errors!

garston tony says...
8:40am Fri 12 Oct 12

gangerman wrote:
Nascot wrote: OAC Bailiff. Every single comment you post is littered with grammatical errors. How many can you spot in? 'well said hornets no 12 totaly agree il give it another year and this country will be well and truly finished its alright for these high paid politicians theyle have warmth and food but will they feel guilty i doubt it very much”
Very astute observation NASCOT, that will help the great unwashed to be cleansed and the hungry to eat. Extremely saddening that in 21st century Britain there are people in need of charitable food handouts and all you can do is criticise grammar, but then "Nascot" says it all.
Well said gangerman, that's exactly what I thought when I read Nascots post!

Nascot, OAC's post may have contained errors but yours was entirely pathetic

garston tony says...
8:43am Fri 12 Oct 12

LSC you're right it should be clearer where vouchers can be obtained and what the criteria is. However the list of organisations at the end of the article suggests that they may be some of the sources, ie the housing trust neighbourhood officer may become aware of a family struggling and be able to offer them a voucher. I understand that local MP's sometimes have vouchers they can give out.

Would also be nice to hear how/if joe public can help by contributing items?

OAC Bailiff says...
8:47am Fri 12 Oct 12

yes well said everyone nascot says it all

OAC Bailiff says...
8:54am Fri 12 Oct 12

nascot were talking about the food bank not peoples spelling if you dont like it dont read it

Reg Edit says...
12:01pm Sat 13 Oct 12

Nascot may be a plank in some people's opinions, but you can't make the assumption that everyone in Nascot is like him.

It's a shame he took that name and then posts the posts he does - it does the Nascot area no favours.

WatfordAlex says...
7:16pm Sat 13 Oct 12

Reg Edit wrote:
The reason fuel bills are so high is because of the dotty liberal subsidies for green energy, which NONE of us can afford.

If we stopped all this green tax con we would all be able to heat our houses AND feed ourselves.

Given the choice between being green or being warm and eating food, I will take warmth and eating every time.

While I'm on the subject,how much do we give away needlessly in foreign aid each year when our own people are having trouble putting food on their plates?

Priorities Clegg and Cameron, priorities.
This article is not about fuel bills or foreign aid. In any case, your ranting is nonsense as usual. The proportion of energy bills relating to renewables is just 4% (http://www.carbonbr
ief.org/blog/2011/06
/peiser-gwpf-mail-en
ergy-prices)

The reason bills are actually going up is our reliance on imported gas (a fossil fuel). To keep bills down the Government should invest in clean domestic energy generation and energy efficiency schemes.

Reg Edit says...
9:17am Mon 15 Oct 12

Thanks for the website link Alex. I went there and looked at the credentials of the organisation. Green organisations do not have a good reputation when it comes to telling the truth about green, do they? They are known for distorting figures and only counting things that show their cause in a good light, whilst hiding the facts that go against them. Particularly if they are government funded, as this one is, by proxy.

Alex, I am afraid that your green credentials let you down. This is about national wealth, which is affected by the government wasting our wealth on unnecessary schemes.

Can anyone say that they would go to the bank to borrow money to give that borrowed money to a raft of charities? That the next year, already in debt, they would go and borrow more and do the same thing. And so on and so on, year after year?

Money they would pay interest on until it was repaid. And further knowing that the money would not be repaid "soon" because they were having financial difficulties and so interest would be repayable for decades to come, quite possibly even by their children and their children's children. It is the economics of the madhouse and the poorhouse. It is the economics of this government. No wonder it's in such a mess, as would Labour be if they were in power. The only party to offer hope out of this mess is UKIP.

Next, on to your figures about the green tax levied through energy bills.

I doubt that 4% figure is correct or even close, it comes from an organisation that is funded by an organisation that is dedicated to green schemes and is government funded (probably by UK via the EU). The information is not therefore what I would call "impartial".

As such, the information will be skewed to present the climate change lobby in its best light.

Green is good, consumption and money is bad. Give everyone green, stop them consuming and take their hard-earned away from them. Is that the policy of your green party Alex? Uncomfortable reading isn't it, when exposed to the cold light of day? Who would vote for that? Not I!

WatfordAlex says...
10:57pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Reg: I present you with factual evidence that shows you are wrong and your response is to go "la la la I can't hear you". Face facts Reg - you are wrong.

Reg Edit says...
10:25am Tue 16 Oct 12

Alex,

I don't think I am am wrong, and here is why.

You presented me with a figure (4%) from a government funded green pressure group, and your views on clean (presumably you mean green) energy and energy efficiency being the solution to all our energy woes.

No mention of traditional coal, gas, nuclear or fracking gas energy sources, all of which could reduce fuel prices though at a cost to the environment.

Please forgive me if I and others take what you say with a large dose of green salt. If green energy was the solution, it wouldn't be so expensive and unreliable.

Anyone who thinks this country can rely on sunlight, rivers, wave and wind for energy needs their head testing. They cannot deliver sufficient reliable power for our needs yet huge sums are invested in this "Emperor's new clothes" strategy.

It's only a matter of time before such schemes are abandoned as the way forward for power in the UK. Let's hope our head-in-the-clouds faux-green masters in the UK and the EU do not bankrupt this country first with all their green taxes, power bill supplements and subsidies or we'll all be relying on the food bank!

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