Chesterfield Foodbank has launched a corporate sponsorship scheme in the hope that community businesses can help ease financial pressures on the charity and support the vital services it delivers for residents in crisis.

‘A Year’s Supply’ is intended to secure sustainable income streams on top of the fundraising which has fuelled the the foodbank’s growth since 2013, to the point where more than 9,500 people – almost a quarter of them children – received assistance in the past 12 months.

Businesses can tie their donations to particular items distributed in regular food parcels – rice pudding, pasta sauce, teabags and so on – and receive various tiers of promotion in kind, along with a sense of civic solidarity.

Foodbank funding manager Jacqueline DeVeaux said: “We are proud to be part of the Chesterfield Champions network and to work more closely with local businesses who care about their community.

placeholder image — Chesterfield Foodbank is offering business sponsors chance to have their logo on the charity's vans, which range all over north Derbyshire. (Photo: Contributed)

“A Year’s Supply gives companies a simple, transparent way to support our work while seeing exactly how their contribution helps people facing crisis. Every sponsored item directly supports individuals and families across Chesterfield, and these partnerships help us continue delivering both emergency food and wider support services.”

She added: “For local businesses, it might fulfil a corporate social responsibility policy, but it’s certainly an opportunity to get your brand noticed and show their pride in the community. We’re all trying to help the same people at the end of the day.”

The innovative idea has been born out of financial demands which have increased sharply since the foodbank’s long-term warehouse was sold by Derbyshire County Council last summer.

All the while, the foodbank is seeing consistently high demand even as some statistical measures of inflation and the cost-of-living have begun to show improvement.

The charity's funding manager Jacqueline DeVeaux. (Photo: Contributed)

The charity has extended its operations well beyond food parcels too, working in partnership with local agencies to support any struggling resident through early intervention measures and expert advice which might stop them reaching the need for emergency support.

Jacqueline said: “We were already paying rent but our new landlord is VAT-registered, and so that extra cost has to be passed on to us. The landlord has been really though and is working closely with us to downsize to another one of his more affordable properties.

“At this moment though, there is extraordinary pressure on the foodbank’s sustainability and we need more money to buy food stock and cover our overheads and running costs.”

She added: “The majority of our funding comes from the generosity of the public in monthly donations, as well as churches, schools and community groups, and we have to say a huge thank you to all of them and the volunteers who keep everything running.

“We’ve not seen this kind of business scheme tried by other foodbanks, but we thought it would be a really nice way for them to know how much they are helping and see exactly where their money is going.

“It’s another part of a diverse portfolio of fundraising. We try not to put all our eggs in one basket, and we’ll continue applying for grants, crowdfunding and all the other ways that people can contribute to help us.”

To find out more about the scheme, visit chesterfield.foodbank.org.uk/a-years-supply.