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 – see https://winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/get-help/other-services/#OtherFoodBanks for suggestions and links.

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.  We can also offer adult clothing from the Vineyard Church, but you need to book an appointment via https://www.winchestervineyard.org/storehouse.  If you need assistance with children’s clothing/baby equipment you will need to visit Storehouse, Vineyard Church – please contact them on storehouse@winchestervineyard.org or visit their website.

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 8 times in a 12 month period;

NEW FOR 2025 – YOU CAN ONLY SELF REFER 4 TIMES – THE OTHER REFERRALS MUST COME VIA AN AGENCY.

After this, you might be able to still receive help, but we would require you to contact  Winchester City Council (Housing or Income Services), Hampshire County Council (Family Services), Citizens Advice or CAP who will be able to help you see if there are any additional avenues of assistance. If you don’t wish to seek help via one of these agencies, then we can recommend joining the Community Food Pantry at Unit-12, Winnall, or the Carroll Centre, Stanmore. See communitypantries-overview  for more information.

Do you offer delivery?
We are only able to offer deliveries on a Tue or Fri afternoon (generally 1-4pm), and only to people unable to reach on 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 email referrals@winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk and request a delivery, 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. We have some advice on our website – https://winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/get-help/other-services/ .

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 FSM; 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 weekly 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.  Please look at our news page, or Facebook for information about how to register nearer to the holiday times.

How/what can I donate?
Information about how/what to donate is on our https://winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/donate/ pages – these are updated regularly.  Donations can either be placed in our collection points in stores (Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and the Co-op in Alresford) or bought directly to us at our warehouse in Gabare House, Winnall Valley Rd, SO23 0LD on a Tue or Fri 9-3pm.  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.  Foods past their best before date, or homemade items can be donated via https://olioex.com/ .  Food past it’s use by date cannot be donated to any charity, so please dispose of it at home.

How do I complete a Gift Aid Form?
Under our financial giving pages – https://winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/donate/financialgiving/ there is an online Gift Aid form to complete.  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 you donation.

How can I volunteer?
Please look at our https://winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/volunteer/ pages to find out about current vacancies.

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

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