Buckinghamshire Council is reaching out to residents to offer a Helping Hand to support those struggling the most with the cost of living crisis. The council is relaunching their Food Champion scheme in partnership with Street Associations and local foodbanks, where residents are invited to set up a food collection service for tinned and dry food in their own road or street.

To help increase collections, Food Champions are encouraged to coordinate monthly food drops within their street or even their place of work and deliver these directly to the foodbanks. Once delivered, the vital provisions will help make up food parcels for vulnerable local individuals and families which will be distributed by the foodbanks direct.

Chiltern Foodbank, Aylesbury Vineyard Storehouse and Burnham Care & Share are all currently participating in the Food Champions scheme, and the council are also working with One Can Trust to promote their own Street Heroes programme to encourage residents from the High Wycombe, Marlow and South Buckinghamshire areas to get involved – to help increase donations up and down the county.

Steve Bowles, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, commented:

"The Food Champions initiative was established during the pandemic to help increase foodbank donations. The partnership was originally between The Street Association and Aylesbury Vineyard Storehouse. However, I’m pleased to see that this partnership has grown to include the Chiltern Foodbank and Burnham Care & Share.

"Collecting food from your neighbours and bringing it to a foodbank is a simple thing, yet it can make a huge difference to the lives of people who are struggling. So if you’re able to – please become a Food Champion! And if you don’t have a Food Champion in your area but would like to help, most big supermarkets offer food donation points where you can donate while in store, which are such a valuable help to those that need it.”

Jo Belshaw, One Can Trust, commented:

"The One Can Trust Street Hero initiative was borne during the first lockdown and provided a staggering 90% of all donated food at the time. The community enthusiasm and kindness was incredible and so hugely appreciated by the many vulnerable families in our local community who we were supporting at the time. To this day, our Street Heroes are a vital source of food and as demand is set to increase further still, we very much welcome the opportunity to work with new Street Heroes."

To find out more about the Food Champions scheme – or to set up a scheme in your street – please visit: buckinghamshire.gov.uk/food-champions

Residents struggling to afford food can locate and contact their local foodbank by going to: buckinghamshire.gov.uk/cost-of-living