What an excellent idea! Don't know whether ours has a website or does that, but it would be worth finding out.

Agree! Excellent idea Jen. Nice to hear about your generous & thoughtful work. I hope it catches on. We have the Salvation Army here with their 'Red Kettle Campaigns' and others such like.

Pennyfarthing, when i found out about it, thought what i good idea of theirs, wondered if other areas did the same.

Thanks Bathgate, all I do is go their website weekly and buy a item from the list. Our nearest town also has a Facebook page and the food bank puts up lists on there. By doing the lists means they get a good range of food to hand out to try and give people using it a balanced diet.

As far as I know, not - but both Waitrose and Tesco have a printed list up by the hopper for donations which lists the things they need, so you can buy on the way round doing your shopping. My local tesco were collecting money for the foodbank today.

Yes, Tesco have a box near the exit but I haven't seen a list of wanted goods.. But you can also take donations direct to the food bank - they will tell you what they are short of if you ask them. One thing I would never have thought of is sanitary goods for ladies.Our local one has recently started accepting fresh fruit and veg too, which is great.

Nappies too, I think...

Bamboo, back when I was in Kent, they would just put up signs in our local Tesco saying they needed food so I think it's great that they now give us an idea of what they really need. This week on ours was they were out of UHD long life milk. And a couple of weeks ago they ask if people could buy Advent calendars.

Stera, I'm the same, wouldn't have thought of sanitary wear. Here there was about 6 collection points including a Estate agents on the high street. Our main supermarket is Morrisons and they have started a box of fresh fruit by the front door, 1 free fruit only for children. Don't think our food bank is accepting fresh fruit and veg as also on the list this week was they were out of tin potatoes

Jen, I saw a news item earlier today about a social media challenge, where people film themselves filling a trolley with donations for food banks, has been described as a Christmas miracle. The power of the net eh? I noticed in our local Sainsbury that toys/puzzles/books were in the food bin too.

Shirley, love that people are donating toys and things. One of the things I love about my local town is, it's not that big but it has a closed FB group. Lots of post about finding tradesmen but then there are also those like the other week. A veteran trying to get back on his feet, managed to get a flat but had no furniture or anything. Someone heard about it, put a post on our town FB and in the end had to turn down offers as within 2 days people donated more then enough to fill his flat with everything he needed including pictures for the walls and filled his food cupboard. After the last storm a local fencing company put a post that they would repair all OAP on low income fences damaged by the storm free so they had peace of mind about their property's security. Feel that it is a real caring community.

Our local food bank has just posted on town FB page that the local Traveller community has also taken up the fill a trolley for food bank challenge and they have had 9 trolleys full dropped off this week. Same thing that you were saying about. Really amazing.

That's wonderful Jen . . . people generally are really generous, aren't they, once they know what is wanted.

In my town, there is a pop-up "Best Before Café" which opens every Wednesday morning next to a playground. They give away FRESH stuff from supermarkets that would otherwise be chucked out, and ration out the spread at 10.00am, 11.00am and 12.00 so that late-comers won't miss out. People can throw a few coins into a bucket - spending whatever they can afford, if anything :)

Jen, I don't know much about Facebook but it does seem to generate good feelings at times ...

Sheilabub, that sounds really good, using food instead of just filling land fill with it. I think you are right, people tend to be generous but we don't always hear about it so can forget sometimes.

Shirley, I only joined facebook as we started an account for our company. Laura got me onto the town FB as it's a place to find workmen which helps being fairly new to area. Parts of FB I hate as it can be full of some nasty swearing people but i just stay clear of them. Town FB being closed, it's invite only and they kick out any trouble makers.

The closed or private groups on Facebook can be useful - I belong to two of those on different subjects, and have found some information very useful. I only joined because I wanted to play Scrabble and use Facebook Messenger, but I don't friend people nor accept friend requests any more, and never look at the ranty, prejudiced and fake areas of it. I did friend about 3 people from a gardening group some time back that I did not know in real life, but one of them started posting racist propaganda, another political propaganda, so I gave up on the friend thing. Even my stepbrother, I'm appalled to say, has been de-friended since the Brexit vote - to be fair, he was never one of the sharpest tools in the box, but his posts are so full of mis and disinformation, hatred and spite, it makes me feel ill just glancing at them... so Facebook has a huge downside - but also an upside, if you choose carefully, and just leave the herding nutters to rant at and with each other.

All our local supermarkets have bins for donations to food banks, cat protection, local animal shelters, one has a tree that you buy a gift for local underprivileged children, wrap it up stating boy / girl plus age group, think the local Rotary or Roundtable are responsible for playing Santa with those, it always does well.....

Bamboo I have used FB for years for family and really close friends, I added some from here, I am careful though, I did it when I was having mega problems with this one and thought I was going to lose contact with everyone, however two years back I ventured onto some of the closed groups, I only use the ones that are closely monitored though, like you I absolutely hate anything political, if anything of that nature shows up which as you know does on occasion, I darn soon get rid, my FB is my entertainment not going to get involved in other peoples stupidity....My favourite is Gardening UK but some of the others I find very helpful as well, it gives me something to do when armchair gardening.....

Lincslass - Facebook has some very positive aspects, clearly, but probably the way to think about it is 'proceed with caution'!