After thousands of food parcels, countless donations and many years of extraordinary commitment from volunteers, the Asylum Welcome Food Bank held its final session this week, with arrangements in place for clients to continue receiving support through other local food banks.

On Tuesday 25th August, Asylum Welcome’s Food Bank opened its doors for the last time, bringing to a close a service that has provided vital practical support to refugees and asylum seekers in Oxfordshire.

Over the past six years alone, volunteers have distributed an amazing 10,000 bags of food and essential supplies.

At the heart of the service during that time has been volunteer Food Bank Coordinator Janet Stewart, supported by a dedicated team of Food Bank volunteers and drivers, and by generous donations from individuals, schools, businesses and community groups across Oxfordshire.

Our Joint CEO, Sarah, said:

“The Food Bank will be remembered as an invaluable resource and an important part of Asylum Welcome’s history. Janet and others have also done an excellent job in recent months of working with clients to identify alternative food bank provision to ensure that they continue to receive the support they need.”

– Sarah Totterdell

Janet looks back

As the Food Bank comes to a close, we caught up with Janet to look back on her time with the service, the thousands of people it has supported, and the volunteers who made it all possible.

How did you first get involved with Asylum Welcome’s Food Bank?

“When I retired in 2018, I wanted to do some volunteering, and I approached Asylum Welcome because refugees were a cause I really cared about.

“I worked initially on the welcome desk, then in AFS as well as doing a bit of work with the fundraising team. At that time Judy Rous was running the Food Bank, and when she stepped down, I offered to take it on, as it was something I had always been interested in doing.”

Over the past six years alone, we’ve calculated that the Food Bank has distributed around 10,000 bags of food and essential supplies. What does that figure mean to you?

“To me, it demonstrates how much the Food Bank has been needed by our clients, and hopefully the difference it has made to them.

“Although all the detailed record-keeping has been a bit onerous, I think it has been useful in the long run, as it has made it possible to evaluate exactly what the Food Bank has achieved, and its impact.”

Are there particular people or moments from your time at the Food Bank that have stayed with you?

“It has been lovely to get to know our regular clients and see directly how the Food Bank has been helping them.

“We have also enjoyed the excitement of getting some huge donations from schools, notably Chandlings and Windmill, at Harvest Festival — sometimes close to 1,000 items!

Other big events were the food drives at the Asda superstore in Wheatley, where we collected around 1,000 items in a single day.”

What has it been like leading the team of volunteers who have kept the Food Bank going over the years?

“It has been wonderful to work with such a positive and committed team — some, like Fernando, Pete, Marian, Rose and Manar for several years, others for shorter stints but nonetheless valuable.”

Looking back over everything the Food Bank has done, what are you proudest of?

“It was quite a challenge to keep the service going during Covid, when the office was closed and all the food was delivered to clients’ homes.

“Every week, the team spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning putting together about 50 bags of food according to family size, which were then distributed by about six drivers, who also had to be coordinated.

That period was definitely the most logistically challenging!”

Our enormous thanks go to Janet and to everyone who has volunteered, donated or supported the Food Bank over the years.

Donations of toiletries still welcome

While we are no longer accepting donations of food, donations of toiletries and personal care items remain extremely helpful, particularly for guests staying with volunteer hosts through our Sanctuary Hosting service.

Donations can be brought to our Welcome Centre: Unit 7, Newtec Place, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE, Monday to Friday, 10am–4pm.

Thank you, as always, for your generosity and support.