SERVICE DETAILS
Positive Help works with adults and children living with and affected by HIV and Hepatitis.
We have a small food bank at our office and run a food and grocery parcel delivery service.
Those who receive food parcels are service users of Positive Help.
This means staff get to know them, build a relationship with them and we facilitate the support they need to keep them living well with HIV/Hepatitis through the other services we provide.
We can accept emergency referrals for the food parcel service and build the relationship after they have received the food. Removing the barriers to accessing food is important to us.
Our food parcels are made up to contain food, groceries, and toiletries for 3 days. They are tailored to needs, dietary requirements, likes/dislikes, cooking facilities available/used and culturally appropriate food. If we do not hold food that is culturally appropriate, we can provide a visit to a store and provide cash (the equivalent of cost of parcel) for the person to purchase food they would usually eat. This is important to us being an inclusive organisation. We know that many Black Africans will not use a mainstream foodbank due to it not being able to offer suitable food.
We usually have non-perishable foods in the bags but will always include fresh fruit/veg, bread, milk and eggs which we get on the day of the parcel delivery.
Our food parcels get sent out on a Tuesday and Thursday by our trained volunteers.
Our Support Officer oversees the food parcel service. Trained volunteers help prepare and deliver the parcels. This extra social support and visit can be vital for our service users, many of whom are isolated. For others it is the help to carry the food into the kitchen that is beneficial.
We aim to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We provide the food in reusable bags and the volunteer will transfer the food to kitchen counter so the bags can be wiped down and used again.
We record which service users request food parcels and if it is seen that a pattern is developing our Support Officer visits them to understand their situation and how we can help further. This may include being referred to a Benefits Advisor, Energy Advisor or to a larger food bank. A trend has become apparent more recently where service users have got themselves in increasing debt due to drug use. The pandemic has motivated some to use drugs again after being clean for many years. We can refer them to specialist drugs and alcohol agencies to support them. We are exploring to see if we can do anything further here to support them with this type of debt.
Requests for food parcels can be taken over the phone or through text and we will follow up with the person.
Telephone: 0131 225 4766
Text: 0758 295 8753
