Hi All,
I am turning to STW for this question as it is singularly the best source in the UK for actual pukka advice when you need it.
I live in Rothwell, Leeds and have been involved in looking at how we set up food availability for them that need it. This will be a mix of existing food bank users, but also a pool of food for delivering to the needy.
This is a project done with local councillors, under the guidelines issued by Leeds council, so it’s about as official as things get in this situation where “we are all building the plane as we fly it”.
The existing foodbanks have all but closed down, either due to location conflict (covid) or elderly volunteers self isolating. So we have to create a different model.
There are a mix of folk who are economically knackered by covid (my neighbour and wife included who both lost their job this week) and a few of us with stable jobs who will be “ok” and may wish to donate as “there but for the grace of god etc!”.
So plan so far is to do two things:
Set up a street by street community collection service for foodbank. ie one person in a street says via leaflet, text, or FB ” Drop yer donations with me and I will collate and take to the foodbank collection point”. We are setting up a collection point in Rothwell. Three potential locations identified.
But as well as physical donations we also want to be able to receive cash for buying stuff for food parcels. This is where I need advice. Beyond the normal “just giving” stuff I have not set one of these up before for a community fund endeavour.
I have the ability to channel donations to a local community bank account that one of the councillors runs (may day carnival fund that is now less active!), but need advice on the relative “just Giving”, ” go fund me” , paypal etc etc options for getting folk to be able to give cash with maximum ease and minimum commission.

All advice welcome on platform, pitfalls and scrutiny.
And if anyone wants to discuss what we are trying to set up in LS26 and advise/comment then that’s cool too. Thanks Conrad.