Grants and Funding
Why does the foodbank sometimes fund things other than food?
At Chesterfield Foodbank, we’re deeply grateful for every tin of food, every £1 donated, and every act of kindness that helps us be there for local people facing financial crisis.
We also work hard to secure grants and other funding, which sometimes allows us to offer extra practical support such as bus fares, cooking equipment, help with keeping warm, or digital inclusion.
And we know this can raise a perfectly fair question: Why are we funding those things when we still need everyday essentials like coffee, cooking oil or shampoo?
The answer lies in how charity funding works.
Some grant money given to us is unrestricted. This is incredibly valuable because we can use it wherever the need is greatest – whether that’s buying food and toiletries for our food parcels or helping to meet the essential costs of premises, fuel, vehicles, insurance and staffing. This is core-cost funding and we prioritise seeking this type of funding.
Other funding comes through project funding which means grants awarded for a specific purpose, depending on the funder’s priority aims. Usually this type of funding must not be used for our normal day-to-day work. For example, if a funder awards us £500 specifically to provide bus fares, that £500 has to be used for bus fares. We can’t simply transfer it to our food budget, however much we might need coffee, cooking oil or shampoo at the time. We’re also very grateful for opportunities like these, which allow us to support people experiencing financial hardship in additional, practical ways.
Importantly, this is additional funding that we can bring into Chesterfield Foodbank to help local people.
People experiencing financial hardship often face more than one difficulty. Someone may have food waiting for them at a food bank centre but struggle to afford the bus fare to collect it. Someone else may receive food but have very limited facilities for cooking it. Project grants can help us tackle some of those additional barriers without taking money away from our food provision.
Food and everyday essentials, and access to onward support remain at the heart of what we provide, and we’re always grateful for donations from our most wanted list and for unrestricted financial gifts. These donations give us the flexibility to respond when food parcel stocks are low, and to meet the less visible but essential costs of keeping the foodbank running safely and effectively.
So you may occasionally see us celebrating funding for something like bus travel, cooking equipment or blankets while, at the very same time, asking for donations of sugar and washing up liquid.
Those two messages aren’t contradictory. They’re simply different parts of the same funding picture.
Our aim is to make the best possible use of every donation and every funding opportunity entrusted to us, while bringing as much additional support as possible into our community.
And if you’re ever unsure why we’re funding a particular project, please ask us. We’d much rather explain where funding has come from and what it can be used for than leave anyone wondering.
Thank you for every tin, packet and jar, every £1 donated and every hour of your time. Every type of support plays a part in keeping Chesterfield Foodbank here for our community.