Shirebrook students help spread the word about vital foodbank

Volunteers from the Storehouse Community Food store say that they came away with a host of ideas about ways in which to raise its profile after working with teenagers at Shirebrook Academy.

David Spencer, a volunteer from Storehouse, which is based at the Brook Community Church and Centre in Main Street, came in to talk to Year 10 students about the work that it undertakes in the community, including its membership project, whereby families pay a £5 subscription each week and can take home to a large bag of food in return.

The scheme is designed to prevent local families from going hungry without subjecting them to the ignominy of receiving a handout from a foodbank – instead, they are visiting a community store and pay for the food themselves.

Around 500 people are currently signed up to the scheme, but organisers believe more people could benefit from it, leading it to work with the school to seek ideas of how to reach out to them.

By the end of the day, students had generated a host of ideas, including a video package for Bolsover TV, assemblies for local primary schools and a presentation on how to use social media, which was devised by Thomas Brown.

David Spencer said: “There is a lot of stigma surrounding people using a foodbank, so we transitioned from a foodbank into a community store, which is a better way for us to help people who are understandably reluctant to be seen to be taking a handout.

“It’s been running since last year and while numbers are rising, awareness is still relatively low, so hopefully we can put some of the ideas that the students have generated into practice to let more people know that we are there for them.”

Tracy Horton, personal development co-ordinator at Shirebrook Academy, said: “The students came up with lots of ideas, so it was a very worthwhile exercise that has taught them something about their local community, encouraged them to look into marketing and using their creativity for social enterprises.”