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Thornbury Foodbank


North Bristol and South Glos Foodbank

What is Foodbank?

The foodbank provides emergency meals for 3 days to people in short term crisis.

Click here to read our 2023 end of year update, issued in January 2024.

The crisis can be the result of problems such as benefit delay/withdrawal, separation, unexpected bills, debt, bereavement or redundancy.

Thornbury Foodbank

It's a service for local people in short term difficulties, to remove the worry of feeding their families while problems are sorted out.

The Thornbury outlet is a Thornbury Churches Together initiative, with volunteers from all Thornbury's churches running it and donating food.

The North Bristol Foodbank is part of The Trussell Trust's UK wide foodbank network. 

How to contact the Foodbank

The Thornbury outlet of the North Bristol and South Glos Foodbank is based at Thornbury Baptist Church, Gillingstool, Thornbury BS35 2EG.

For more information about the North Bristol and South Glos Foodbank, please call 0117 472 5172, email or visit nbsg.foodbank.org.uk.

How to access the Foodbank

To access emergency food support from the local foodbank in South Glos, you will need to be referred by a frontline professional support service (those who work in the health and social care bracket).

If you are not sure who to contact or this is the first time you have needed a voucher for Foodbank please contact:

  • Citizens Advice South Glos: 0808 278 7947
  • Help through Hardship: 0808 208 2138 (National Line run in partnership with Citizens' Advice UK)
  • North Bristol Advice Centre: 0117 951 5751 (Local advice centre, based on Gainsborough Square, Lockleaze)
  • South Glos One Stop Shops (Hubs in Patchway, Kingswood and Yate for support from the Council)

You can also be referred via your GP or local Health Centre and a Housing Officer, Support Worker or Social Worker.

How to support the Foodbank

Click here to see the latest Shopping List.

You can drop off donations in the crate behind the tills at Tesco or on the Thornbury Baptist Church steps on Fridays between 9.00 and 11.00am.

How it works

Thornbury Foodbank

Food is collected by churches, schools, businesses, other groups and from the public by collecting outside supermarkets.

The food is sorted by type and date and stored ready for use.

Care professionals allocate vouchers to people they encounter at work who need food.

Vouchers are issued online and sent to North Bristol Foodbank electronically. We receive those for clients in our area and the client is texted an appointment time between 1.30 and 4pm on a Friday at Thornbury Baptist Church.

While the parcel is prepared, trained staff talk to the client to see how else they can help, e.g. with debt advice or by liaising with official agencies.

This is a typical example of a client:

If, twelve months ago, someone had told me that I’d be relying on a Foodbank to feed me, I would have laughed at them; life was going swimmingly.

Then, out of a clear blue sky, I found myself handed a series of events that were both unexpected and out of my control. I found my income cut off with, sadly, my financial commitments remaining. Before I knew it, I had mere pennies in my bank account and no food in my fridge.

Whilst I’d assumed that the welfare state that I’d paid into for years would help me, I found that I’d been pretty much hung out to dry. Every Government and Local Authority avenue I tried proved to be hopeless. Quite simply there was nothing available in the system for people like me.

By the time I found the foodbank, I hadn’t eaten for three days and I was desperate.

If I’m honest, there’s far more embarrassment than pleasure having to go cap-in-hand to a food charity. That said, they treated me with understanding, compassion and moreover, like a human being.









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