The MK Food Bank are launching a Reverse Advent Appeal this November to provide Christmas treats and food parcels to families in need across Milton Keynes this festive season.
Operations Manager at the MK Food Bank, Louisa Hobbs says, “Christmas time is the season of giving, and we’re always overwhelmed by the generosity of the Milton Keynes community to others who may not have as much. This year could see a particularly difficult winter for many more families and individuals, with the removal of the Universal Credit uplift and the end of the furlough scheme as well as soaring energy costs.
Because of this, we’ve decided to focus our 2021 Christmas Appeal on reaching as many people as possible, stocking up cupboards with essential items, as well as some Christmas treats! Please help us by filling a box this November.”
How you can help
- You can use any box or bag to collect your items. As this is not a hamper for just one family, please don’t decorate your box.
- If you want to help the MK Food Bank a little bit more however, they are tying Reverse Advent in with their ongoing Buy-a-Box campaign Buy-A-Box | Localgiving. They’ll have several of these boxes available for £5 each at their warehouse in Kiln Farm from Monday 4th October. Come and pick one up, then after you’ve brought it back with your donations, they can use it for years to come.
- Please fill your box with the items listed below. They are very keen to receive small Christmas treats but please don’t forget the essential items too! You can put one item in every day in November or fill your box all in one go – it’s completely up to you.
- Once your box is full please deliver it to 14 Burners Lane, Kiln Farm, MK11 3HA. One of the MK Food Bank team will be there to receive your donations Monday – Friday (09:00 – 16:00) and you can bring your box along any time from 1st November.
- If you are a group or an organisation that will have lots of boxes for the MK Food Bank, please call them on 0300 303 4933 to discuss collection.
- The deadline for delivering boxes for this campaign is 16:00 on Friday 3rd December. This will give the MK Food Bank enough time to sort and distribute food in time for Christmas.
What to put in your box
Please fill most of your box with the MK Food Bank's MOST-NEEDED items:
- Long life juice or squash
- Long life milk
- Biscuits
- Cereals
- Pasta sauce
- Tinned tomatoes
- Tinned fruit
- Tinned meat
- Tinned fish
- Dried rice in 500g or 1kg packets
- Spreads – jam or peanut butter
And include a few small Christmas treats, for example:
- Small packs of chocolate or sweets (chocolate oranges, Matchmakers, tubes of Smarties, Fruit Pastilles etc. are perfect)
- Tubs or bags of Christmassy snacks (Twiglets, Mini Cheddars or nuts)
- Mini versions of Christmas cakes or stollen
- Crisps
During December the MK Food Bank will sort all donations and make them into food parcels that include Christmas treats donated by the generous Milton Keynes community. Your donations will therefore go to several households and make a real difference this Christmas.
More details about this campaign can be found here.