Flintshire foodbank is bracing itself for the traditional Christmas surge in demand has had a welcome boost with a vanload of goodies from a local business.<\/p>\n
The Buckley centre, part of the Flintshire Foodbank\u2019s network of nine centres across the county, has had its shelves replenished by Lock Stock Self Storage who have a storage park on the town\u2019s Globe Way.<\/p>\n
Buckley Foodbank is at the Buckley Cross Methodist Church Hall and is open on Wednesday afternoons, staffed by volunteers who are mainly retired and hands out over ten food parcels a week to a mix of single people, couples and family groups.<\/p>\n
It opened eight years ago and moved to its present home a year later and Anne Farnsworth, one of the volunteers, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve got a good team here and for the last two years we\u2019ve also opened a Warm Hub here where people can just pop in for some company, a chat, a cup of tea and some cakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have the Citizens Advice Bureau here, Flintshire Council\u2019s welfare team and mental health charity MIND, and that\u2019s all hosted by Buckley Cross Methodist Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time of year the numbers coming in will go up dramatically and we\u2019ll have over 40 food parcels for singles and family groups so we\u2019re catering for up to a 100 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an increasing number of people of no fixed abode who might be put up in hotels where they don\u2019t have any cooking facilities, not even a microwave so we have to give them things like pot noodles that they can make with a kettle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteer Helen George said: \u201cWhen I retired I found I wasn\u2019t as busy as I\u2019d been and I had referred people to Social Services from the Eye Clinic where I worked so I decided to get involved in helping here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get a lot of the food given by customers at local supermarkets but we also get individual donations as well and it\u2019s very welcome when a business like Lock Stock come forward like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing more people, especially older people who might have just missed out on their heating allowance and it is a matter of pride for many people but we provide our service very discreetly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly wonderful to get this donation from Lock Stock just in time for Christmas and we\u2019re very grateful for their support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lock Stock Self Storage, based in Denbigh, are one of the fastest-growing storage businesses in the UK and Area Site Manager Richard Warner said: \u201cWe do like to get involved with the communities where we operate and it\u2019s our way of saying thank you to the people of Buckley for their support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Foodbank is clearly a much-needed service and hopefully Lock Stock will have played a part in bringing some Christmas cheer to local households.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team of volunteers here in Buckley clearly do a fantastic job at what is a very difficult time for so many people and we like to support the community in the places where we are in business whether that\u2019s charities like the Flintshire Foodbank or local schools and community groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lock Stock, founded in Denbigh in 1999, is the UK\u2019s largest containerised storage company with almost 4,500 units providing over four million cubic feet of space at 29 storage parks across North and Mid Wales, Shropshire and Merseyside.<\/p>\n
The company estimates that 60 per cent of their containers are rented by people moving house or keeping treasured possessions but up to 40 per cent, almost 2,000 of their containers are used by small businesses for storing materials.<\/p>\n
Lock Stock also specialise in the off-site hire of containers, delivered to your location by their specialist lorry and hired on a month-by-month basis. The containers are 10, 20 and 40 feet in length.<\/p>\n
They can also use their lorry to relocate a container, contents and all, to a different Lock Stock site in the event of a house or business move.<\/p>\n
For information about Lock Stock Self Storage including off-site container hire contact them on 01745 817178 or go to https:\/\/lockstock.biz\/<\/a><\/p>\n For more information about the work of the Flintshire Foodbank go to https:\/\/flintshire.foodbank.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n