Meg Deyell, Writer and Community manager

We chatted to Neil Carlile, Bankuet's Chairman. Read on to find out what it's like to lead an organisation through its first year, as well as a global pandemic.

How did you get involved with Bankuet?

I was mentoring a woman who runs an interior design company, and she told me about Robin and this idea he’d had. They said, “You should go and meet with him, talk to him.” I knew he was an old friend of my son Ed’s, so I said, “Well if he really wants me to, I will.” It turns out he did want me to, so we started meeting.

I have run a company all my career, taking it from very small to quite decent size. Robin was at the beginning and not had any experience at all. It was a good time to meet him, and I introduced him to a few other people I thought could help, and it’s gone on from there.

As we came into this year we had all sorts of plans for how we were going to develop Bankuet over the next twelve months. Those plans were starting to go along quite nicely in January and February and then BOOM! Everything went nuts.

It’s been pretty hectic since then, and that meant there was quite a lot more demand on my time from Robin. Every day he was dealing with new situations, and he needed someone as a sounding board with a bit of experience.

Although, no one has experienced this current situation - particularly not a tech startup involved with food banks! So, it was a lot of work earlier in the year. At that time, Robin suggested I take on the role of chairman in an official sense, rather than his business mentor.

How have you found being the chairman of Bankuet so far?

What a time! In a way, it was nice to have something to focus on which you felt was doing some real good in the crisis we were in. From a personal point of view, it’s been exciting. But it was busy! And it still is. I’m retired, so I do a little bit of mentoring. In a time when everybody is facing complete change in their life in a lockdown, it was nice to have Bankuet to focus on.

Why is Bankuet important?

That’s easy. My wife and I are volunteers at our local food bank called Feed, part of Vineyard Church St Albans. Catherine has been working there for ten years, and I’ve been there eighteen months. I was starting to help in the local food bank, around the time that Robin and I were starting to talk about Bankuet.

One of the things that really struck me was how tenuous the supply of food can be. You are so reliant on people dropping stuff in their basket at the supermarket, or bringing a bag of groceries along to church. Another thing was the breadth of need. When you go to a well resourced food bank, you realise that it’s not just food they want - it’s toiletries and household stuff too. I realised that what I was dropping in the food basket at Tesco’s was good, and helpful, but there must be a better way of doing it.

Indeed the main reason I joined Bankuet was to ensure as best I could that it got going, that it actually happened. It seemed not just a good idea, but a really important one.

And does Bankuet tick the box of a 21st century way for people to give?

Bankuet is ticking that box, and doing so about two or three years ahead of where we expected to be. Because of the pandemic, we’ve had meteoric growth. Not just in the amount of food we’re supplying and the money we’re receiving, but also in our commercial relationships with suppliers. We’re having conversations now that, realistically, we’d not expected to be having for another year or so.

How does today’s Bankuet compare to where you thought we would be a year ago?

We are way, way ahead of where I expected us to be! But we’ve got a lot to do. We are looking after around a hundred food banks, which is great, but we need to be looking after a couple of thousand. So we’ve got a lot to do to actually make sure that food banks throughout the country get the benefit of Bankuet.

Unfortunately, the demand on food banks is going to increase. It’s increasing already. We’re seeing food banks with a fourfold increase in demand, and we’ve got to find modern ways of satisfying that demand. But also a modern way of satisfying that desire in people to give, because fortunately that desire to give will meet the demand. I believe that.

Bankuet is an efficient way of transforming people's generosity into the items food banks need. I’m sure that as the word about Bankuet gets round, we’re going to have more and more food banks realising the benefit of it.

Of course the other benefit is Gift Aid. So, if somebody gives £50 or £100 worth of food, then there’s also going to be cash arriving to that food bank a few months later. It’s an amazing system.

How do you think food banks will use the extra money from Gift Aid?

Some food banks might choose to spend it on food and toiletries, but the food bank we work in offers lots of other services as well.

For example, Feed food bank offer legal services on a regular basis. Christians Against Poverty come in to talk about financial issues. The Housing Department in the local Council comes in, who are not always easy for people to access. They visit the food bank so people have an opportunity to talk about whatever their issue is.

Of course, the one bill people have to pay first is their rent. In St Albans, which would normally be seen as an affluent area, we come across people who have to cut back on food in order to pay rent. Most of these people have kids they’re trying to feed too, and a lot of them are single parents. Usually there’s debt and medical issues as well, so they are facing huge challenges.

What excites you most about where Bankuet is now? And about where it will be?

What pleases me the most, is that we have managed to stay on or ahead of the curve through such an extraordinary time. That’s credit to Robin and also to the volunteers that have come alongside him and helped. He certainly couldn’t have done it on his own!

For the future, it’s difficult to predict with the chaos of what’s going on. But, the very fact that we’ve been able to cope in the way we have gives me confidence that we’ll be able to continue.

And that’s important. If Bankuet continues to grow in this way, then more people are able to give, and more food banks are able to receive the things they need.

Is there anything particular you’d like to say to our readers?

What I really want to say is thank you to everyone who has either helped Bankuet, given money to Bankuet, or trusted Bankuet. We’re grateful to everyone who has got involved whether they’re a donor, a volunteer or a food bank. So thank you.

Thank you for your time, Neil, and for lending your considerable skills and experience to Bankuet!

Looking for ways to help? Bankuet helps get food banks what they need, when they need it.