Month: November 2024

As the colder weather approaches, although on the date of this post it’s not as severe in the South West as further north, should it arrive here and you’re in receipt of certain benefits, you may be entitled to a cold weather payment, a Government top-up to help with fuel bills. The benefits that ensure entitlement are listed below:

• Pension Credit
• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seekers’ Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit (with some exceptions)
• Support for Mortgage Interest

The payments kick in if the weather station nearest to your postcode records an average temperature of zero degrees Celsius or less for seven days in a row, or if the forecast is for below freezing temperatures for seven consecutive days. The payments don’t affect other benefits.

Click on the link below and enter your postcode to see if you’re eligible:

ELIGIBILITY CHECKER (England only)

EFA regularly collect donated food from Nando’s in Exeter, for which we and its eventual recipients are very grateful, and we were delighted to learn in September that they had a small budget allocated to help a local charity, and had chosen us. This was incredibly generous and particularly timely because we’re in the gradual process of replacing old chest freezers with upright models, which are much more efficient and practical given the volumes of food we collect and deliver.

We’re hugely grateful to the property department at Nando’s UK & IRE, and to Chris Thomas at Fosters Refrigeration for the heavily discounted unit, which has now been delivered and is up and running in our warehouse, an enormous help in keeping our food fresh and ready for the 64 food banks and community groups we support.

The Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of Food Matters is out and can be viewed via the link below or downloaded to your device.

As we head into another winter, this issue takes a look at our work over the last few months, with thanks to some of the many friends, partners, supporters and volunteers who make it all possible.

We’ve also news of some wonderful Christmas support provided by the Exeter Chiefs Foundation, take a look at some of the health benefits of volunteering, step into the world of virtual reality in our latest volunteer profile, have an update on a new annual partnership with Devon farmers, provide useful details on DWP payments this winter and, who knew there was such a thing as a Human Fruit Machine? There is, or rather was, as you’ll find out on page 22, and there’s much else besides.

As ever, please let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see covered in future issues and do share Food Matters with anyone you think might be interested in hearing about our work.

View by clicking here or on the image below. Right-click either link and select “Save Link As” or “Download Linked File As” (on a Mac) to download Food Matter to your device.