Review of collection and delivery of Christmas Hampers

The Council have scheduled a meeting on Tuesday 7 May to discuss our Christmas hamper project. I've put together some ideas for discussion.

I set them out below:

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

Thoughts on the collection for and distribution of hampers at Christmas

Preamble:

Our Christmas hamper project this year raised, for me, a few questions.

I did not assess, in any depth, the contents of the hampers we obtained from the Food Bank, but gained the impression that they were not as complete as the hampers we had prepared in previous years. This was a first attempt for both ourselves and Food Bank at supplying hampers in this way, so we should be willing to accept we both have some learning to do.

We should, fairly obviously, do an assessment of how effective this was, both in terms of the usefulness of what we supplied to our clients (some goods supplied were past “use by” dates), and how it compares economically to previous years.

I suggest we get feedback as soon as possible from:

·       Our distribution volunteers

·       Secretariat finance (compare costs with previous years)

·       Hamper recipients

·       Parish donors – were gift numbers down? – easier to donate hamper items than gifts.

Once we have that feedback, we can discuss what works best for Vinnies and clients. We can then, if we wish,  approach Food Bank with our findings, good and bad, to see if

·       Any problems can be addressed

·       To see if both parties are interested in working together again.

DISTRIBUTION PROGRAMME

We have, for as long as I have been involved with the Society, distributed the hampers through volunteers calling at the homes of those who are to receive the hampers, and delivering them.

This is a very Vincentian way, with home visitation being at the core of our ethos.

But I wonder if there might be a better way of going about it, and I offer this for discussion.

A Different Way After assembling  

the goods for our hampers and presents, we could set them out in a central place, accessible by our recipients, and issue invitations to them to attend on a certain day (or days) to collect their hamper and gifts.

We should set up the venue so that it has some entertainment for the children, e.g. Jumping Castle,  organised games, toys area for the little ones...

Tea, coffee, cordial, water could be made available.

Those who are to receive the food hampers should have some say as to the contents of their hamper -  not an item by item pick, but at least a chance to refuse something they won’t use and replace it with something they will.

Gifts should be chosen for them based on child’s age and gender, i.e they should not be allowed to pick them over.

For and against

Against:

·       We don’t get to do the home visitation at the time of the delivery.

I don’t see this as a major negative, as the visit at this time is usually very brief, as time pressure is on the volunteers.

We will, in any case need to make contact with those who are to be invited, as we do at the moment,  to ensure details are correct. A home visitation could more effectively and conveniently be done at that point.

Volunteers would need to be available before / during the busy Xmas season to do these visits and assess the needs of the family. (For : This would ensure a more directed approach with results better tailored to the family’s needs)

·       At the moment volunteers get to choose their own time to do deliveries. In effect though, they have to fit in with the convenience of the recipient.

·       We would need a venue, large enough, accessible by public transport and with suitable parking.

·       We would need to provide supervision of children’s activities (in a safe / separate area) as the parents will be occupied.

For:

·       The distribution is contained to one or two days - perhaps a Saturday and a weekday evening  Probably we will still make some deliveries, to people who do not have the ability to pick up. I doubt this will be a large number.

·       Our volunteers will be at less risk – of road accidents, from dogs, even householders or their friends misunderstanding why we are there, or falling over a plastic trike in the driveway ( yes, that was me).

·       It can be an event that enhances the Vinnies name. At the moment I’m sure that many recipients do not remember who the hamper is from (Salvos? Anglicare? who?). Although this is not the reason we do this project, it is still important for our reputation/credibility that we have a level of recognition. An event, with Jumping Castle and games, with Vinnies banners displayed, might do this.

Please don’t hesitate to comment on this, or write an alternative idea. You can comment by choosing the “Comments” function, or send to me, by email your ideas or alternative suggestion, which I’ll post one the blog.

Vin Victory