The Student Guild Foodbank has expanded and moved to a new, larger location, and will reopen today in the old Chaplaincy room located on Level 2, C Block on Kelvin Grove campus.
Earlier this year, Glass reported on the unprecedented influx of demand the Foodbank had been experiencing, a trend that has continued since that time.
Since March of this year, the Foodbank has served over 3400 students, with over 400 students accessing the service in the month of June.
The space used for the Foodbank was no longer suitable able to keep up with the demand, as it could only hold a limited number of supplies and was only large enough to fit around three students at a time.
This resulted in long queues of students waiting to access the service.
Once the University confirmed the Chaplaincy service was moving to the Gardens Point campus, Guild Professional Staff were able to secure a lease of the space until the end of November 2023, with plans to extend into 2024.
The new space is approximately three times the size of the old room, and will house a freezer to provide students with frozen food.
The Guild has implemented a booking system so students can book a five-minute slot. This will help to reduce wait times and allow students more equitable access to food regardless of which day they can attend.
The Guild received an additional $60,000 in SSAF funding from the University to put towards this initiative, and have also received regular donations of food and other essentials from faculty and the public throughout the year.
This includes over $3,500 in monetary donations, and a regular donation of fresh fruits and vegetables each week. The Guild is in also looking to partner with a local bakery to add baked goods to the Foodbank offerings.
Click here if you would like to find out more about the Foodbank or the other welfare services the Guild offers.
