Talking About the Foodbank
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Wednesday, the 6th of May, saw local supporters of Cheadle and District Foodbank gather to hear more about the vital work of this local charity. The event was organized by Wellspring Methodist Church, which provided the venue and refreshments. Sadly, Food bank leader Diane White was unable to give her talk as planned, but fortunately, her husband Tony stepped in to give an informed and passionate talk instead.
Tony works alongside his wife and had a great deal of interesting facts to share. Firstly, he tackled the question of what a foodbank is, and opinions on this tend to vary from "It's a bit like supermarkets where everything is free" to "they provide short-term emergency food for people in crisis." Tony told the group that both are largely true, but the scale of need in 2026 is far beyond previous demands, with the needs of people in crisis on the increase. 2025 saw 3 million people across the UK receiving food parcels, and 40 percent of those are children. It's a shocking position that our citizens are struggling so much. Foodbanks around the country will continue to help people who struggle to buy enough food to eat. Mike explained that this is not just a problem in big cities but one which affects residents in Staffordshire Moorlands and Cheadle too.
Cheadle and District foodbank is a member of the Trussell Trust and are based at the Guild Hall in Cheadle. They offer more than just food, they never refuse anyone who turns up and operate a voucher system whereby clients are referred to the service by frontline professionals, doctors, schools, and agencies because they have the knowledge about the clients and their circumstances. That way when people arrive at the foodbank the team have a little bit of background about the person.
They provide a sympathetic ear and practical sign-posting to other agencies who can further support the person, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, help with debt management, housing and even immigration. Citizens Advice are present at all Foodbank sessions as well as Social Prescribers so that they can give immediate help to those that need it. Helping tackle the root causes of their poverty and building people's resilience so they are less likely to need the food bank in the future.
They are a registered charity and wholly run by a small team of volunteers. They have been operating for 12 years, helping not only people in Cheadle but all the neighbouring villages too. They have given out a staggering 125 tonnes of food as well as providing other things such as Christmas meals, meat packs and other initiatives.
Mike told the group that people shouldn't be embarrassed to come to the foodbank but sometimes are. Sometimes people struggle just to come through the doors. Life brings about all kinds of challenges and needing to come to a foodbank could happen to anyone at any time of life, someone might have lost their job, a payment has been delayed or other personal reasons. In this country hunger is caused by people not having enough money and not by a shortage of food. The foodbank has been able to help people who have come from war-torn countries like Ukraine too.
They actively look for donations from outside sources, such as supermarkets, local churches, schools and private donations. All the money they raise goes towards the running of the foodbank; buying the food and directly helping the people who come in.
Diane and Tony with the trustees and volunteers will continue to try to bring all communities together to end hunger and poverty in the hope that this enables those individuals and families to rebuild their lives again.
The Wellspring group made a donation to the food bank and COGNEWS editor Lori Wood Williams was able to add an additional £300 to that total. £250 on behalf of Norse n-able who operate the disabled facilities grants (DFGs*) service in Staffordshire Moorlands and £50 from Cheadle COG.
*DFGs are grants provided by the local authority to help meet the cost of adapting a property for the needs of a disabled person. The DFGs could include: Facilities Access, Improving Safety, Food Preparation, Sleeping Arrangements Bathing & Toileting, Essential Utilities & Outdoor Access. n-able is a trusted provider of stairlifts, mobility equipment and other assistive technology, across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, and available online.
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Talking About the Food Bank - created 19th May 2026
