Hardship help

Because we work directly with people affected by hardship and poverty, providing whatever practical help we can with these issues is important

Our Basics Bank distributes many thousands of food parcels each year on a referral basis. We also work closely with Citizens Advice, the Fuel Bank, FareShare and others to do what we can to ease the burden of financial hardship.

We help people access available support and our Community Hub provides wraparound support.

Basics Bank

Basics Bank provides emergency food for households in crisis. It operates on a referral system.

Food parcels are designed to last five days and include items like tins of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, custard, tea, coffee, sauces, cereals and biscuits.

Basics Bank is open at Testwood Baptist Church 10am-12noon Monday-Friday during term time. Please phone to check at all other times.

Basics Bank relies on donations of food from the community, churches, schools and businesses and is run by a team of volunteers. Donations can be brought to Testwood Baptist Church, The Chapel café or left in the donation trolley at Asda Totton.

BanktheFood phone App

Basics Bank is registered (under Totton Basics Bank) on the app ‘BanktheFood’. This is a great app that lists what we urgently need and, if you want, will remind you of the current needs when you shop.

Learn more about the BanktheFood App

Community Hub

Wednesday mornings from 9.00am-11.00am

Community Hub provides a place for people to access support and FareShare’s Larder, a weekly membership scheme that enables families to access food at an affordable price.