Our Lady and St Joseph Parish
Aire Valley

Bingley Food Bank

Bingley Foodbank is a community resource serving local people facing crises in their lives. It was initiated by the Methodist Airedale Circuit in Partnership with many local churches, voluntary groups and local organisations. It opened its doors in Bingley Arts Centre on 29 November 2013.

Donations

Donations can be made at Bingley Little Theatre (Bingley Arts Centre) on Tuesdays and Fridays between 10.30am and 11.45am. There are boxes for donations at both SS Mary & Monica's church, Cottingley and Sacred Heart church on Nethermoor View in Bingley.
There is also a donation box in Bingley Co-op which is emptied on a regular basis.
Please note that the food donated in the boxes at Lidl and Aldi does not come to Bingley Foodbank.
Donations of Money can be made via the Foodbank's website - click "Donate Money" at https://bingleyfoodbank.org.uk

The Foodbank is very busy at present, with lots of clients needing supplies. We're fairly well stocked for most things but:

Food Bank shortages 28 January 2025:

          Breakfast cereal (not porridge oats or muesli)
will be very welcome.

Anything else that anyone wants to donate is welcome!

NB catering size packs of food are too big even for the larger families.

Thanks to everybody for their continued support.

Foodbank Website

Bingley Food Bank now has it's own website - see bingleyfoodbank.org.uk/ and it's own page on Facebook NB There's an older page too that doesn't get updated, just to confuse us all.

Usage comparison - 2021 to end June 2024

2021 Total number of visits 343 feeding 992 people
2022 Total number of visits 479 feeding 1088 people
2023 to the end of July 2023: Number of visits 337 feeding 840 people – with another 5 months to go.
2024 to the end of June 2024: 233 families fed which accounts for 558 individuals. – with another 6 months to go.

Typical usage - April and May 2020

During these 8 weeks we fed 77 households feeding 224 individuals. Approximately half are adults and half children - quite a number of the ‘children’ are teenagers and have an ‘adult’ bag.
As we give 3 day bags that means that people have been fed for 672 days (in comparison to 120 for the same time last year). As well as the bags prepared there have also been all the additional extra’s that have been contributed from individuals, businesses being furloughed and local businesses.
None of this would have been possible without the generosity of Bingley people in bringing food and of the people who have given their time and energy to keeping the foodbank open. Occasionally, as well, we have had a delivery from the Storehouse in Bradford. New systems have been worked out for admitting clients and for delivering food and keeping everyone at a safe distance.
Clients all say how grateful they are and along with the Bingley Community Kitchen that Kathy and her husband are running at Trinity All Saints this is really helping to keep families who find themselves in difficulties whilst schools are closed and people have lost jobs or are furloughed