Donations from our suppliers – Food Bank Friday

With rising inflation hitting the poorest the hardest the donations we give through Food Bank Friday will be more important than ever, but we with the current situation worsening we wanted to help even more, so we called upon our wonderful suppliers to see if they could help out and make donations on top of our donations and donations from our generous customers. They didn’t disappoint! Here are some of the donations going to the Newcastle West End Food Bank from our suppliers:

Faith in Nature

Faith in Nature have donated 18 cases of Hemp & Meadowfoam body wash, 18 cases of Shea & Argan body wash, 18 cases of Blue Cedar soap and 18 cases of Wild Rose soap!

Faith in Nature have a rich 45 year history of producing natural cosmetics and skin care. They have worked to create genuinely natural products which are gentle on the skin and on the environment, with no synthetic colourings or fragrances, and totally paraben free.

Nat Brands (LoofCo & Eco-Max)

Natbrands (LoofCo & Eco-Max) will be donating 2 full cases of Eco-Max Baby Fabric Softener 1.5L and 50 x LoofCo washing pads!

LoofCo products are skilfully hand crafted in Sri Lanka and Egypt by small producers. Using natural materials from the luffa plant and the coconut tree, LoofCo offer a natural plastic free alternative to regular scrubbers with a unique range of biodegradable and recyclable pads, brushes and accessories for washing-up, household cleaning and body.

Divine Chocolate

Divine have donated a tasty selection of chocolate bars!

The story of Divine starts back in 1993 with the birth of Kuapa Kokoo, a pioneering cocoa farmers’ cooperative in Ghana, dedicated to producing high quality cocoa, and running a democratic organisation with the farmer’s interests at heart.

Beauty Kitchen

Beauty Kitchen have donated 20 cases of 50ml organic vegan hand sanitizer and 10 cases of 300ml, 240 in total!

Beauty Kitchen’s mission is to create the most effective, natural and sustainable beauty products in the world. Their natural ingredients are sustainably sourced, and they use the latest innovations in natural bioscience for scientifically-proven, visible results. 

The Natural Deodorant Co.

The Natural Deodorant Co. Will be donating 75 units of Gentle Cream Deodorant.

The Natural Deodorant Co. was born out of the desire to create the perfect natural, vegan and cruelty free deodorant. It had to absorb quickly and last all day as they know that smelling good makes you feel great. 

Bio-D

Bio-D have donated 72 units of varying sizes, everything from soaps to laundry liquid!

Bio-D is an independent, family-owned, ethically motivated company, dedicated to promoting the use of hypoallergenic, environmentally responsible detergents that have a minimum impact on the ecosystem both in their use and in their manufacturing process.

&Sisters

&Sisters will be donating much needed tampons!

&SISTERS was created by daughter and mother duo Lucy and Claire after experiencing the shame and hardship that comes with a lack of access to safe period products.

Flo

Flo have made a donation of 20 cases of bamboo pads!

FLO’s mission is to create healthier, more eco-friendly period products that are affordable and accessible. 

Cafédirect

Cafédirect have donated a huge mixture of coffees and teas!

Cafédirect is the UK’s largest 100% Fairtrade hot drinks company. All their products carry the Fairtrade mark, guaranteeing a fair and stable price to the 38 grower organisation across the 12 developing countries that the company works with.

The Cheeky Panda

Cheeky Panda have donated 5 cases of facial cleansing wipes

The Cheeky Panda was created in January 2016 after Chris and Julie took a trip to China and discovered that 90% of the bamboo harvested was thrown away. The pair are passionate about sustainability and realised the waste bamboo could be used to make truly eco-friendly toilet paper, since 27,000 trees are flushed away as toilet paper every day. 

Zaytoun

Zaytoun have donated cases of Medjoul Dates.

Zaytoun is a non-profit company established to support marginalised farming communities in Palestine through the production of olive oil and other olive products.

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From Monday 21st November to Monday 28th November we will be offering you 20% off your order and we will donate an item from our stock to the Newcastle West End Foodbank! Find out more about Food Bank Friday.

Why we do Food Bank Friday

For the last eight years we have promoted Food Bank Friday, our alternative to Black Friday. The idea behind it came about after seeing the Black Friday craze come over to the UK from America, in the past in the UK most stores would discount after Christmas however the trend for a single day of big reductions was introduced over to the UK back in 2013 with ASDA launching ‘Walmart’s Black Friday by ASDA’. The following year other retailers copied the promotion which is when it really got into the public eye, it was all over the news, films of people literally fighting over a discounted TV. As retailers didn’t want to be giving away their best products at a discount it was often old stock being reduced and so not really a bargain but the big push was there to spend, spend, spend. This was at a time when austerity was hitting hard, and disproportionality affecting poorer people. The growth in the number of food banks across the country and the demand at them has increased year on year. We thought the manic consumerism of Black Friday didn’t sit well with the situation many people were facing, the fact it was unnecessary purchasing driven by advertising hype while others could not afford to put food on the table.

So we launched Food Bank Friday where were did offer a discount to our customers, however on top of this we donated an item from our warehouse directly to our local food bank, the Newcastle West End Foodbank. So with their order our customers would know a direct tangible contribution will be made to someone who needs it. Over the last eight years we have donated 32,339 individual items to the food bank (Worth over £49,000!).

Unfortunately things have not got easier for people, in fact as we all know times are harder than ever. Inflation hits the poorest in society and inflation is what we have now, the highest for 40 years. This means the cost of everything is rising, huge increases in energy bills, food basics increasing, the list is endless and it is hitting hard. Because of this we wanted to see what we could do on top of our donations and our customer donations. We work with many wonderful ethical suppliers, so we thought who better to ask for help! We had a fantastic response for donations which have started to arrive already at the Newcastle West End Foodbank!