Food Train is looking for individuals and businesses to sponsor vital supplies for older people
Individuals and businesses are being urged to sponsor boxes which carry lifeline shopping deliveries to older people in their homes across Scotland.
Food Train has launched a new drive that it hopes will box-off a fundraising boost amid continued soaring demand for help among older people.
The charity, which ensures older people across Scotland do not go without vital shopping supplies and life-enhancing social contact, is urging individuals and businesses to support its BOXtober campaign.
Throughout October, it is encouraging people to pledge just £10 to sponsor one of the boxes which carry groceries to those who would otherwise struggle with their shopping and potentially go without essentials for a healthy life.
Emma Black, Food Train’s national fundraising and marketing manager, said: “Sponsoring a box - or boxes - may not seem a conventional way to support our charity, but it is something that really will help improve the lives of older people living in their own homes.
“For just £10 a year you can make a real difference at a time when the need for our services has never been greater as people continue to shield and self isolate to protect themselves from Covid-19.
“These boxes carry shopping supplies which mean the older people who are receiving them can eat well and live well in their own homes - and the reality is that we have never needed more of them because of the huge demand we are seeing. Our volunteers pack shopping into hundreds of boxes, so £10 for each of them has the power to hand a considerable boost to our fundraising efforts.”
Across Scotland, Food Train is currently delivering shopping supplies to 3,384 customers through its acclaimed home shopping service, as well as the Connects project - launched earlier this year - which matches customers and shoppers on a one-to-one basis. That is compared to 2,342 at this time last year. Demand at the peak of the pandemic’s lockdown was 70% higher than 2019 as older people shielded in their homes.
Each sponsored box will be labelled to recognise the donation for a year. Companies can also have their logos included.
The BOXtober campaign comes as Food Train seeks more volunteers to support its shopping service across the nine regions in which it operates - Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian.
While people have supported the charity’s work - either by completing shopping lists in supermarkets or delivering them - while on furlough, many of them are now returning to work as the UK Government scheme draws to a close and have less time to help, while demand remains high.
More information on BOXtober can be found online.
