– Discount retailer supporting foodbanks with £100 to spend per week
– StarBargains.co.uk is on the hunt for six more banks to support
DOING its bit to help local communities, online discount retailer StarBargains.co.uk has launched a new initiative to support up to 10 foodbanks nationwide.
This comes as part of the Yorkshire based business’ latest charity push, which is being spearheaded by the Gunter family, who own the company.
StarBargains.co.uk, the online arm of iconic Yorkshire retailer, Fultons Foods offers an ever-changing selection of the best brand name food & drink products at discounts of over 50% off RRP, compared to leading supermarkets online, every day. Fulton Foods is a family run and owned company originally founded by Jack Fulton and has been trading for 58 years. It employs over 1,000 staff who work in more than 100 stores across Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottingham and Teesside.
As part of the initiative, foodbanks and foodhubs will each receive a weekly budget of £100 to spend on the site, to allow them to fill inventory gaps and select the items they are short of, free of charge.
Four UK foodbanks have already signed up to the scheme, including the L15 Foodhub and the Big Help Food Club, and StarBargains.co.uk is on the lookout for six more charities sign up for support during early 2019.
The news comes as it is revealed that a staggering 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies were handed out in 2018, a 13% increase on last year.
With StarBargains.co.uk stocking a wide selection of majorly discounted branded food products alongside home staples at supermarket prices, Foodbanks have a huge selection to choose from when placing their weekly orders. They can browse branded products including Kettle Chips, Alpro, Lindt, Heinz, Cadbury, and with savings of over 50% off RRP to be had, the £100 budget per charity, per week, will stretch even further than normal.
Karen Gunter, director at StarBargains.co.uk, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be launching this project, and are really looking forward to making a difference to those in need alongside our foodbank partners. As a food business it seemed appropriate to help those struggling with the cost of feeding themselves and their families, a worsening position nationwide.
“Some of the foodbanks we’ve already signed up are Liverpool based L15 Foodhub and the Big Help Food Club. With these being community run and lacking in funding, we couldn’t be happier to be providing them with some support as a privately-owned company.
“Our main goal for StarBargains.co.uk is to make big name brands affordable to everyone, so supporting foodbanks in this way is a natural charity partnership for us.
“By allowing these charities and support groups to order £100 a week from StarBargains, there’s a wide range of products they can select to ‘gap fill’, with which is significantly better than us deciding which products we donate. So many generous individuals around the country are giving their time to these groups we are very pleased to be able to support them.
“Our aim for this initiative is to get 10 foodbanks up and running on the scheme during 2019, each of which will receive a complimentary £100 shop with us, every week. We’re actively on the lookout for six more foodbanks in need of support, and I’d welcome any contact from foodbanks who think they could benefit from this.”
Tammie Leddy, volunteer at Liverpool based L15 Foodhub added: “We operate as a a foodhub, not a foodbank, which is where people traditionally visit to get help with emergency food packages, by receiving three vouchers every 6-month period. We saw a gap in the market, and opened this Foodhub to offer people choice and help them throughout the year rather than just in times of emergency. Our visitors pay £10 per month to visit the foodhub as much as they need, and generally receive around £20 worth of food and essentials per week.
“Traditionally, we’d pay a fixed fee to receive a distribution of food trays each week, though due to budget cuts, our stock was halved – we were at a stage where we were absolutely desperate and thinking we might have to close down, though when Karen got in touch to offer to support from StarBargains, it changed everything. We’re now comfortably able to support 70 local residents every week and are looking to increase this number in the new year.”
For more information and to enquire about joining the scheme, foodbanks should contact cs@starbargains.co.uk
The full range of products currently available can be found at www.starbargains.co.uk. Items are available while stocks last.