FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Who can get help?

What help can you offer?

What is in a food parcel?

What clothing can you help with?

How do I access help?

Do you offer delivery?

Can you help with fuel bills?

Do you do anything during the school holidays?

How/what can I donate?

How do I complete a Gift Aid Form?

How can I volunteer?

How is my data used?

Who can get help?
We provide food/clothing to people in need; there is no strict criteria as our services are available to anyone in need of extra help. However, we are only able to support people living in and around the Winchester City area, the surrounding villages (Micheldever to Colden Common) areas and Alresford areas.

If you live outside these areas, there will be a closer community food project who will be able to help.

What help can you offer?
We offer food, clothing and can signpost you to other local organisations who might be able to help with advice/grants.

What is in a food parcel?
Our food parcels contain 5 days of food; mainly tinned and dried food, but most of our hubs also offer a small choice of fresh fruit and veg (subject to availability), and we can provide food suitable for a dairy free, gluten free and vegetarian diet. We can also provide toiletries, nappies, cleaning products and cat/dog food. If you need nappies or baby formula, please visit the Vineyard Church Storehouse as they have a wider variety for you to choose from.

What clothing can you help with?
At our Milland Road hub we can offer adult clothing without booking an additional appointment if you have a referral, or self-referral. If you need clothing, but cannot get to our Milland Road location, please email referrals@winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk and we can arrange for clothing to be taken to one of our other hubs.

The Vineyard Church also offers adult clothing but you need to book an appointment. They also specialise in children’s clothing/baby equipment.

How do I access help?
We have 2 ways in which you can access our services; self-referral or a referral from another agency.

If you are being supported by another agency/service, they should be able to refer you for food/clothing; just ask them for a referral.

Alternatively, you can refer yourself a maximum of 4 times.

After this, you might be able to still receive help, but we would require you to contact an agency.

Do you offer delivery?
We are only able to offer deliveries on a Tue or Fri afternoon (generally 12 -3 pm), and only to people unable to reach one of our hubs e.g for health or mobility reasons. If you have been given a voucher by an agent and they haven’t asked for a delivery please contact us, giving a reason. Please note our deliveries will not contain fresh foods; only tinned/dried and we cannot offer specific time slots.

Can you help with fuel bills?
I’m afraid we are unable to help with fuel bills, or any other financial issues but there are support agencies that specialise in this.

Do you do anything during the school holidays?
During the longer school holidays (Easter, Summer and Christmas), we offer food in lieu of the hot meal at lunch. We do not limit this to families who receive free school meals; anyone in need of help can use the scheme. You can self-register and we do not inform anyone that you are using the scheme. Registration is normally a month before the holidays, with collections being at least one week prior to the holiday starting, or fortnightly throughout the summer holidays. The food is tinned/dried food, supplemented with fresh fruit and veg; we are not able to provide packed-lunch style food.

How/what can I donate?
Donations can either be placed in our collection points in stores (Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and the Co-op in Alresford and Winchester) or bought directly to us at our warehouse in Gabare House, Winnall Valley Rd, SO23 0LD on a Tue or Fri 9 – 3 pm. The collection bin in Tesco’s at Winnall is shared between a number of local charities via the FareShare network.

If you wish to organise a large collection (school, church or work-place) please contact us and we can let you know which items are most needed.

Please do not donate items out of date (use by or best before) and we cannot accept homemade items, items with alcohol, nor items where the ingredients or allergens is not in English.

How do I complete a Gift Aid Form?
There is an online Gift Aid form to complete on our Financial Giving page. You do not have to make an additional donation to complete this form; simply complete it and once submitted it is sent directly to our Treasurer who will link it to your donation.

How can I volunteer?
Details about current vacancies can be found here.

How is my data used?
WFBB takes the protection of our clients’ data seriously. Full details of our Data Protection Policy can be found here.