What to donate to our foodbank – some general tips

ALL donations are very gratefully received, but here are ideas for particularly helpful items:

• Multipacks of individually wrapped items.
• Items that don’t need to be cooked. Rising energy prices mean a lot of people are requesting items that don’t require an oven, for example, things that can be prepared with just a kettle.
• Items that already include herbs and spices. People accessing foodbanks might have limited seasonings to hand to make a flavoursome meal, so foods that come with those things already are a great idea, for instance, tinned tomatoes that include garlic or herbs.
• Items that can turn pasta/rice into a full meal. Pasta and rice tend to be donated frequently, so it’s helpful to donate complementary items (for example, pasta sauce, tinned vegetables) that can turn them into a meal.

What not to donate…

While all kinds of donations are gratefully received, there are a few things you should avoid giving:

• Items past expiry date. All food distributed must be within the expiry (or ‘use by’) date on the label. Anything past that date will have to be disposed of. Past ‘best before’ is fine so long as it’s still within the expiry date. (Confused by ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates? See https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/best-before-and-use-by-dates for clarity.)
• Items no longer in original packaging or without the shop’s own labelling. If you’ve decanted the food into another container or removed the labels, it can’t be accepted.
• Anything you wouldn’t eat yourself.  A good measure for deciding whether something is suitable: do not donate anything that you or a loved one wouldn’t want to eat.