THE coronavirus is something that has blighted the lives of nearly everyone on the planet, helping to shut down economies and preventing people from seeing loved ones for what seem like unending periods of time.
But through it, there have been some bright lights that have grown in strength and after months of arduous toil are now beacons of hope for those in need during these desperate times, and especially around Christmas.
Wycombe Food Hub is one such beacon. It was born out of an initiative by Cllr Khalil Ahmed, former town mayor Trevor Snaith, and Cllr Bob Kin to help people affected by the pandemic when the first lockdown was brought in.
What started as the Disraeli Coronavirus Community Support group, soon saw The Pastures Church turned into a foodbank, thanks to the Reverend Ant Lee and helpers Melanie Smith, Yvonne Anson, Jo Belshaw and others.
Initially, collections and deliveries were concentrated locally, aided by the kind-hearted people of Downley and various major supermarkets. As the months wore on, organisers were also collecting residual food from Maidenhead and Slough – and the more food they saw, organisations such as Bucks Angels, Seerah Today, Karima Foundation, WISE, YMCA, Wycombe Refugee Partnership and Ar-Rahman foodbank all benefit.
Very soon, hundreds of cooked meals were being served and more than 1,500 hungry people were being fed each week.
Today, the organisation feeds the whole town having moved under the Guildhall as a market stall operation, and then eventually into The Chilterns Shopping Centre. The Hub now operates three days a week at a minimum, collects more than 400 crates a week and feeds in excess of 300 people during the same period.
Thanks to Seerah Today, the hub is now also offering baby clothes, and a rack from which people can leave or take clothes as required.
Other organisations joining the struggle include One Can Trust, High Wycombe Mutual Aid, Wycombe Homeless Connection, The Salvation Army, Wycombe Rape Crisis, and The Royal British Legion. The Hub has also been supplying foodbanks in Chesham and Iver.
A recent haul by the team saw more than 200 crates filled with supplies collected within a 20-mile radius of High Wycombe.
What would have been bound for landfill, will now be cleaned and prepared over a weekend, and then hundreds of food parcels will be ready first thing on a Monday morning for various causes, church groups, mosques and those visiting the Hub itself.
The Hub’s team of volunteers will make collections from supermarkets at close of business on Christmas Eve, where they anticipate a “massive amount” of residual goods, including turkey and festive foods.
The effort will continue between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and the Hub itself will be open on both days.
“The Hub is going from strength to strength,” said volunteer Evie. “It is a fantastic Community Hub which helps so many people with various needs. It is incredible to help so many people and build connections with our customers.”
Evie’s colleague Andy said: “It has been amazing to see the Hub grow from our first day under the Guildhall to what it is today. It has helped so many people struggling with food poverty in these difficult times, and the feedback from our customers makes it so worthwhile.”
One Hub user, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m unable to get support from any other sources. The Hub has allowed me to feed my family.”
One supplier to the Hub, Nico, said: “We just made our donation to Wycombe Food Hub. You can be the difference between a hungry kid and a full, warm belly this Christmas. Buy some food and drop it off. Trust me they will smile.”
Wycombe Food Hub is open Monday, Thursday and Saturday 12pm to 2pm.
Donations can be dropped off Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 3pm.
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