Busy shoppers in one the city centre's supermarkets last week not only had extra help in bagging their purchases but also learnt about the importance of the Exeter Foodbank in a partnership between the supermarket and the local college.

Positive Pathways students from Exeter College volunteered to help members of the public pack their weekly shopping in Sainsburys in the Guildhall Centre as part of their two weeks of learning about the community. As well as easing the queues at the till, the students also handed out flyers they had designed to encourage customers to add an extra food item to their shopping an donate this to the Exeter Foodbank.

Exeter Foodbank is an emergency service, providing three days of emergency food to people in crisis who have little or no food and little or no money to buy food and have been referred by one of the 75+ agencies they work with in the city. As part of the students' community project, they also spent a session this week working at the Foodbank's storage unit, helping to weigh and sort food ready for delivery to Exeter Foodbank's food distribution point in the city centre.

Exeter College lecturer Beth Bramble commented “These volunteering opportunities provide students with a range of experiences they could talk to an employer about and can include on their curriculum vitae. The opportunity for the young people on the course to work directly with the public and a local employer whilst helping within their community is immensely valuable. Both Guildhall Sainsbury's and Exeter Foodbank have been incredibly supportive of this partnership work.”

“The College's Positive Pathways is a part-time 12 week engagement course which involves students working in small groups of up to 8 learners. They work on a range of tasks and activities designed to enable them to practice their team work, social, communication and time keeping skills whilst boosting their self-awareness, confidence and self-esteem. As part of their course, the students will have learned about some of the causes of poverty – this project really helps them understand the role of the Foodbank.”

Joy Dunne, Exeter Foodbank Manager, says “We are so pleased to be partnering with the college in highlighting local needs to the wider public. Sainsbury's are very supportive of the Foodbank's work and we would like to thank everyone who has already donated food or finance in store and also those who add to those donations during the event”.

For further information, call Sylvia Jarman on 01392 400585 or sylviajarman@exe-coll.ac.uk