Wine Tasting Fundraiser raises £1,000 for Southend Foodbank

Southend Foodbank is a local charity dedicated to supporting individuals in the Southend and Rochford area who are experiencing difficult times and struggling to meet basic needs. The foodbank provides three days' worth of emergency food and practical support to people during their most challenging moments. 

Throughout the year, Southend Foodbank organises a variety of fundraising events to raise much needed funds to keep the foodbank running, but also to raise awareness of the work the foodbank does across 8 distribution centres throughout Southend & Rochford.

This month they had the pleasure of hosting their first-ever Wine Tasting event, led by Aston Line from Worsley Wines. Aston, together with Samantha, the Community Fundraiser for Southend Foodbank, hosted an intimate event featuring an entertaining and informative three-hour wine-tasting session, where attendees enjoyed a delightul selection of six wines from a wide variety of different regions throughout Europe and South Africa.

The event was graced by the presence of The Worshipful Mayor of Southend-on-Sea, and his family, who generously gifted the use of Porters Civic House for the event, along with their lovely staff members; Tanya, Colin and Adam, who assisted Aston and Samantha with the set-up of the venue and the logistics of the evening, ensuring all ran smoothly.
The evening was a tremendous success, connecting local people and businesses with the foodbank and raising awareness of the work undertaken in our local community. The event raised just shy of £1,000 for the charity which will go directly towards their ongoing work.

Aston from Worsley Wines kindly donated not only his time for the evening, but also a selection of some rare and unusual wines that were auctioned off throughout the evening, raising an impressive £150 extra for the charity.
Aston was delighted to be asked to lead the event and said "I am delighted that our wine tasting fundraiser was such a roaring success. Worsley Wines is a proudly independent,
family-run firm, and we have been contributing to the local community since we were founded in 1982.
"Southend Foodbank do such important work protecting our City's most vulnerable, but donations are down, and need of their vital services is increasing, it is a cause that we are proud to support."

The demand for emergency food parcels is still at record levels in Southend, and the foodbank needs further support. Since early 2024, Southend Foodbank has been spending over £15k a month on food, in addition to the generous donations from local families, churches, businesses, schools, and community groups.