Foodbank faces closure as building goes to auction

4 hours ago

Chloe AslettYorkshire

Dawn Whiteley, from Stairfoot Foodbank, says she is "devastated" by the news the building will be sold

Chloe Aslett/BBC A woman with dark purple hair, a black polo shirt and black cardigan looks at the camera with a neutral expression. Behind her is a shelf full of tinned foods. — Dawn Whiteley, from Stairfoot Foodbank, says she is "devastated" by the news the building will be sold

A foodbank in South Yorkshire has been threatened with closure after being told its current home is set to be sold.

Dawn Whiteley, who runs Stairfoot Foodbank in Barnsley, said Ebenezer Wesleyan Reform Church was closing and had informed her in early March that the building must be vacated by 28 April ahead of an auction.

"[It's] absolutely devastating, people need this foodbank for community and I really just don't know where we're going to go," she said.

A spokesperson for the Wesleyan Reform Union, which includes the church on Hunningley Close, said it had an "obligation to follow the requirements of charity law when selling a property where a church has closed".

"[The union] would be prepared to delay entry to an auction for a period if there is a realistic prospect of Stairfoot Foodbank raising the necessary funding to purchase the property," they said.

Whiteley said she had also been told the foodbank would be able to buy the premises at a "drastically reduced" price if part of it was kept as a place of worship.

"We've just got to fundraise, beg, borrow, whatever, but I don't want this building to go," she said.

"The community needs it - we've got nothing, and I'll fight by hook or by crook to save it."

Whiteley runs the foodbank with volunteers Andy, Steve and Dodge (left to right)

Chloe Aslett/BBC Dawn - pictured earlier - standing in a line with a bald man with glasses and a goatee, a tall man with greying hair and a smile on his face, and a younger man with tattoo sleeves and a backwards camo hat. — Whiteley runs the foodbank with volunteers Andy, Steve and Dodge (left to right)

The building is the only community space in Stairfoot, volunteers said, with the space also hosting coffee mornings and a health group.

Between 65 to 130 people attend during the food parcel pick-up window on Fridays, they added.

"They depend on us, so just to close is not an option - we have to find somewhere, preferably we stay here," Whiteley said.

The majority of service users had jobs but had "no money left" once they had finished paying for bills and other essentials, she added.

"It's just getting harder, there's that many people," Whiteley said.

"We're already trying to fundraise all the time just to keep the shelves full."

The building on Hunningley Close is set to go to auction on 28 April

Chloe Aslett/BBC An old stone church. It is on a corner of a road with some cars parked around it. — The building on Hunningley Close is set to go to auction on 28 April

The volunteers are planning to raise money for the building through a car boot sale, an online fundraising page and charity events.

Andy Winder, who has volunteered at the centre for three years, said he was worried about its future.

"There's a couple of buildings [around] but they're not suitable," he said.

"There's people that are going to suffer."

The foodbank said it received no routine funding, so it relied on food donations from local shops and grants from companies including the Asda supermarket.

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