Buckinghamshire Council Leader Martin Tett is urging residents to support their local food banks during this difficult time by remembering to buy a couple of extras when supermarket shopping.

He said; “Local food banks need our help more than ever right now, as they come under pressure due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Donations are reportedly down at several food banks, while everyone is, understandably, worried about having enough supplies.

“The Council is working with local partners and community groups to encourage people to donate, but also to possibly volunteer. While you’re doing your shopping don’t forget to get something extra to keep someone in need going.”

What’s needed?
Donations to food banks will be needed more than ever in coming weeks and months. Non-perishable household essentials are always needed, such as:

toilet roll
toiletries
dry pasta
tins
jars
long life juice or UHT milk

How can you help?
The best place to donate right now is at supermarket drop-off points. By donating while you do your regular essentials shop, you can still help out while limiting your contact with others during this phase of social distancing.

To find up-to-date information on the specific needs of your local food banks you can check their websites and social media pages – a list of which can be seen below.

For more information:
Our Community Hub page has been set up so that anyone who wants to help during this time can be matched with areas where there is need. Visit buckinghamshire.gov.uk/coronavirus for more information

Food banks in or near Buckinghamshire:
aylesbury.foodbank.org.uk/
chiltern.foodbank.org.uk/about/
onecantrust.org.uk/
aylesburyvineyard.church/storehouse/
slough.foodbank.org.uk/

Accessing a food bank if you need help:

This will be a challenging time for many, and if, at any time, you feel you need help and supplies from a food bank, the Trussell Trust has lots of advice and resources on their website, trusselltrust.org/get-help/emergency-food/

From Monday 23 March, Buckinghamshire Council will be giving regular video updates to residents and answering their questions on everything from how we are fighting Coronavirus locally, what you can do to stay safe and how you can get involved in helping others.

Residents are encouraged to send in their questions which will be answered by the Leader of the Council, Martin Tett, Chief Executive, Rachael Shimmin and others working to protect, support and bring together the community against the virus.

Leader of the Shadow Executive creating the new Buckinghamshire Council, Martin Tett said: “Buckinghamshire is a fantastic place, with a great voluntary sector and enormous community spirit. I am already so proud of the way people are coming together to help each other and particularly look after the most vulnerable in every community.

“It’s so important now, more than ever, that we talk to each other. We want to share what we are doing along with our partners, groups and communities across Buckinghamshire to fight Coronavirus. There’s a lot of information out there, some of it ‘fake news’, so we want to give residents a trusted place to come for local updates and answers to their questions.

“We’ll invite officers from across the council, as well as representatives from our partners and organisations, to join us to talk about what we are all doing together. With us on Monday will be Neil Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer of the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust”.

The vlogs will be shared in the afternoon on the Buckinghamshire Council website www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/coronavirus as well as all social media channels.

Send your questions to askthecouncil@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or tweet and post them to us @BucksCouncil using #askBucksCouncil.