Good afternoon.

It was with great sadness that we learnt this morning that our good friend and long term volunteer Ernie Adams passed away in the early hours of this morning. Ernie was such a dedicated loyal volunteer helping at many of our events over the years Thurrock Foodbank has been running.. Ernie will be sadly missed by us all at Thurrock Foodbank, Often called "Grumpy" Ernie, always had that wry grin on his face. Such a wonderful gentleman, who personally gave me a  great deal of support and encouragement when I first joined Thurrock.Foodbank. Ernie would say it as it was, in a direct but delicate way, highlighting his concerns with the operation, and would appreciate and recognise the changes that were made to overcome the issue he had identified. He was also happy to give his feedback on the outcome, He has been with his childhood sweetheart Janice for over 53 years and we keep dear Janice in our thoughts and prayers at this sad time.

Today I attended a Trussell cluster meeting at Saffron Walden Foodbank, it was a good opportunity to meet with other foodbanks in our expanded cluster from Godmanchester, Cambridge,  March, and our old friends in Braintree and Chelmsford as well as our neighbours from Brentwood and Southend. It is always a good opportunity to meet and compare notes about what is going on across our Foodbank Network. It is also a good opportunity to get updated on the latest Trussell strategies and get inspired to how we can implement them in our community. 

I was also invited this afternoon to present our work to 1st Thors Oak Beavers, it is always a pleasure to attend these meetings and interact with the young people about our work. They never fail to amaze me on the varied questions they ask, it always does keep me on my toes!!

Please find attached our latest March Newsletter:

As the demand continues, a fairly steady week across our centres, we still have some lower stocks on some of our most basic items:.

These items are:
Fruit Juice
Soups (meat & Vegetable)

Tinned Meats
Desserts (Custard, Rice Pudding, Jellies, Sponge Puddings, Tinned Fruit)
Mashed Potato

Tinner Potatoes
Tinned Fish
Coffee

We really value your support with any donations whether it be by a financial donation or a food donation, we really do appreciate any donation, however large or small, as the saying goes. "Every Little Helps" It all goes towards our work seeking to bless the community of Thurrock

If you require any further information or would to discuss any aspect of our work in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me,

Thank you so much for your support. It means so much to us.