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Hope Nottingham
Bulletin for our wonderful
food bank referrers
Issue 2: October 2024
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We cannot support local people in crisis without you! | |
Welcome
Welcome to the latest edition of our Referrer's Bulletin.
With continued concern around fuel prices and the weather getting colder, many people in our local communities are still facing economic pressures and uncertainty - and we anticipate the winter months being as busy as ever.
We have faced our own mini crisis and are appealing for financial support to pay for a new van to ensure continued support of our foodbanks across the city. If every referrer registered with us donated just £3 we would raise over £3000. Please consider donating here:
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As well as a van and food, we cannot run our foodbank network without you - our referral partner’s support. Please read on to find out more about how we can work effectively together to provide effective and holistic support to those in need.
Every blessing
The Hope Nottingham Team
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3 ways you can really help us | |
We are committed to Trussell's referral model for emergency food support. It means we act as good stewards of our resources - ensuring food support gets to the right people at the right time. Critically it also means those accessing emergency food provision are recieving support, advice and assistance to address the reasons behind their need for food. Please help us support our guests by: | | |
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Contacting us about repeat referrals
If you have issued more than 3 referrals in any 6-month period to the same household, and need to refer again, please call us to discuss the situation. Guests needing multiple referrals require more proactive support. For example, have they been signposted to receive a benefits check or help with debt advice? We can discuss with you what appropriate help may be available.
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Asking guests to bring bags with them
Food parcels can be heavy to carry. We usually prepack our parcels into carrier bags ready for our guests, but it is always helpful if guests can bring their own bags with them to the food bank.
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Checking your account details
If you are a less frequent user of the Trussell system to issue emergency food vouchers, it is a good idea to regularly log in - as after a period of inactivity the system will lock your account. If this happens, please contact us using the details below.
Please could all referrers also check the users registered to their account on the Trussell system to ensure that all agency users are still current, and that all names, job titles and email addresses etc are up to date. Agency Managers can update, remove or add any users as necessary. Please contact us if you need any assistance.
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Trussell brand change
You may have noticed that the Trussell Data Collection System looks slightly different. Trussell have recently had a change of logo and will now be known as "Trussell" rather than "The Trussell Trust" in order to better communicate their mission and values.
However, our shared goal of working towards a Britain where no-one requires a food bank remains and Hope Nottingham continues to work to "Inspire and Grow Communities of Hope" here in our city.
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Feeding Broxtowe
We are incredibly proud that Hope Nottingham has been commissioned by Broxtowe Borough Council to conduct a listening and learning project to better understand the provision offered by different food-based projects in Broxtowe. Funding for the project has been provided by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in order to map the different food-based projects across the borough, share best practice and support, and develop ways in which the various charities, agencies and voluntary groups can better work together to support residents of Broxtowe facing food insecurity and poverty.
We would love to hear about and from any groups involved in providing food to Broxtowe residents (such as food banks, food clubs, surplus food distribution groups, projects offering social eating or other relevant stakeholders). Please do encourage any projects you are aware of to get in touch with us. Please contact us here to find out more.
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Food donations
Since April this year, we'have provided over 4,700 food bank referrals, With each parcel providing food for all members of the household for three days, this equates to over 90,000 meals.
The overwhelming majority of this food is donated by local people, businesses and organisations who kindly support our work and we are grateful for everyone who donates. Could your organisation host a food donation point for our food banks in your office? Or organise a seasonal collection to support our work? Is you organisation looking for a 'charity of the year' to support? We'd love to hear from you!
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Read our updated Referrer's Handbook
Our Referrer's Handbook has full details of the Trussell Trust and Hope Nottingham referral process. You can access the Handbook here. Please ensure any new users you add to your account have read the handbook before issuing vouchers.
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Support with referrals
We are always available if you have concerns about foodbank referrals or if you have specific queries. Our team are always happy to help. Please see the contact details below.
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Arrange a visit to Hope House
If you would like to come and see how our foodbanks operate, find out about what else we do, or discuss how we can better work together, why not give us a call to arrange a visit to our main hub in Beeston?
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Getting in touch
We are always happy to support our referrers with any queries or questions you may have. The Hope staff team members you are most likely to be in contact with, relating to foodbank referral are:
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Claire Fenwick
Our Area Foodbank Support Coordinator is generally out and about, supporting our foodbank teams, but will often contact referrers direct and answer their queries.
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Louise Lawrenson
Our Admin and Facilities Coordinator will usually be the one answering your calls or any emails to our general inbox.
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If you need to get in touch, please ring us on 0303 040 1110 or email us at hope@hopenottingham.org.uk
Our Beeston office is open for enquiries and food donations:
Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday - 9am - 12 noon
(Please note this differs from our foodbank opening times which can be found here, alongside all our current locations and opening times)
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Tell us how we are doing
We love to hear how we are doing, especially about the great efforts of our foodbank volunteers. If you or someone you have referred to us, have had a good (or even not so good) 'Hope experience', please do tell us. We have a feedback form on our website, and will always pass on praise where praise is due, to our army of volunteers, and address anything that may need improvement. Why not drop us a line here right now?
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Thank you
We know bringing Hope to those who need it most, requires working together to provide holistic support. Thank you for working with us to serve communities across Nottingham.
Please do get in touch or visit our website for more information. You can also follow us on Facebook here and we would encourage you to keep up to date with what is happening at Hope Nottingham by signing up to receive our monthly newsletter here.
Every blessing,
From the Hope Nottingham team
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