Rye Food Bank sees people referred from a number of agencies including Rother District Council, the Citizens Advice Bureau, GPs, local schools and Hastings Advice and Representation Centre.
By working and liaising with these referring agencies we know we are reaching the people who need our help the most. This network is in place not to make it harder for people to come to us, or to make them jump through hoops, but to help us reach those who need our help.
Whoever passes a referral to us will have made an assessment of an individual situation and when anyone visits Rye Food Bank they will find a welcoming and non-judgmental atmosphere. We realise that often a visit to us is a last resort and people have already gone through enough and we want to put people at ease.
The volunteer team sees it as a massive drawback at the moment that, because of the social distancing requirements, we are unable to invite anyone into the Baptist Hall for a sit down and tea and biscuits and conversation, which was our standard practice before the pandemic.
We realise just giving out food does not really solve problems and we wish to help more longer term and at least try to signpost additional services for our more vulnerable clients.
Demand remains constant for the time being and we are seeing similar numbers of people each week.
Our figures for February are:
Thank you to everyone in our community who donates to us. Everything is appreciated no matter how large or small.
Contact details for Rye Food Bank
Phone: 07526 349847 or email: ryefoodbank@gmail.com
We are open at the Baptist hall, behind the church in Cinque Ports Street in Rye on Wednesdays from 9am for donations and the food bank is open from 1pm until 3pm. The Rye Food Bank phone number is not manned all the time, but you can leave a message and we will respond. Email is better and this is monitored several times during the day and in the evening.
Donations make a big difference
Monetary donations can be sent to the Bexhill Food Bank Rye Branch at Barclays Bank, sort code 20-54-25, account number 83501116, through the Jempson Foundation or cheques to Rye Food Bank c/o 24 North Salts, Rye. If you donate via the Jempson Foundation and are a taxpayer, gift aid can be applied, thereby increasing the value of the donation by 25% at no cost to the donor. If you make a bank transfer please do send us a message (via ryefoodbank@gmail.com) so we know who it is from and can send a receipt, if required.
If you need help from Rye Food Bank, contact Rother District Citizens Advice (CAB) on 01424 215055; email: help@rotherdistrictcab.org.uk, or the Hastings Advice & Representation Centre (HARC) on 0333 344 0681; email: info@harcuk.com.
