Our Christmas Food Bank Collection 2022

The Hull Foodbank, part of The Trussell Trust, work to provide emergency food to support those in poverty. This year, the need for this support has been greater than ever. In October, the Trussell Trust released its first-ever emergency appeal for donations as the cost of living crisis has meant that food banks are under immense pressure in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

 

Since 2017, we have gathered an annual Christmas collection to donate to the Hull Foodbank. With the increased demand this year, we wanted to help more than ever.

 

Our annual Christmas collection began as a “Reverse Advent Calendar”, in which staff members would give one item of food to the collection every day in the run-up to Christmas. Over the years, this has grown exponentially thanks to the hard work of our organisers Colin Wooldridge and Ryan Anderson, as well as those across the group who have donated.

Food Bank Collection Over the Years
Food Bank Collection Over the Years

This year, we started our collection in July with a company fishing trip, with all the proceeds going towards our donation. Then, in October, we ramped up our effort to gather donations from across the J.R. Rix & Sons group. We were blown away this year by the generosity shown.

 

We are also thankful to those who aided us in our efforts to raise awareness of the Trussell Trust’s call for action, including BBC Radio Humberside, who invited Colin on air with Kofi Smiles to discuss what businesses in the local area can do to help as part of their Make a Difference campaign.

 

Our collection was completed and collected by Hull Foodbank just before Christmas. We are astounded and delighted to announce that the final weight for our 2022 Christmas donation was a whopping 1.91 Tonnes!


We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all those who have given to food banks this year, both within Fuelmate and in the wider area. We hope everyone had a lovely festive period and a Happy New Year.

Food Bank 2022 Final Weight

Fuelmate’s Food Bank Reverse Advent Calendar

Whilst 2020 was a year of challenge for all; foodbanks faced the largest increase in demand they’ve witnessed for a number of years. April through to September 2020, the Trussell Trust distributed 1.2 million emergency food packages across the UK, with their predictions of this need increasing over the final months of the year. Following this, it felt right for the teams at Fuelmate and the JR Rix group to collect donations for our local foodbank, Hull Foodbank, a part of the Trussell Trust.

 

Being a part of the Hull community is important to us at Fuelmate. Having previously run 10K for Macmillan amongst other exciting challenges, we’re always keen to help local charities and give back. Since 2017, Fuelmate and the JR Rix group have supported local food banks around the Christmas period to help families keep food in their cupboards when times are tough. Each time we’ve participated in the initiative, we are really proud to see our donations increase year on year.

 

How Our Food Bank Reverse Calendar Worked

 

Organised by Colin Wooldridge, the Foodbank Reverse Advent Calendar campaign began. Rather than having a piece of chocolate each day from an advent calendar, colleagues brought donations of food and essential items to the office ready for Hull Foodbank to collect ahead of the Christmas period. Overall, with so many generous donations, we donated 547kg of food and essential items to support individuals, couples, and families in need across the region this Christmas. This is the equivalent of feeding one person for 31 weeks or feed 110 people over three days.

 

Colin said ‘This year has been an incredibly tough year with millions struggling with isolation, loneliness and feeding families. I firmly believe that without the local food banks, the Coronavirus Pandemic would be an even bigger issue than it already is!’

 

‘To give an idea of the scale, the Food Bank sent a transit van to collect the items, and we managed to help fill the van to the brim. I’m not ashamed to admit it was quite emotional seeing that and I know it really will make a difference to families across this city.’

 

If Fuelmate/Rix Petroleum’s actions can inspire one more person to help, that could be one more person or one more family that will get the support and help that they need. To find out more about Fuelmate and the work we do in our local community, please take a look through our blog.

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