A MUSICIAN is looking to use his social media following to drum up support for foodbanks around Colchester.

Simon Baum, a singer who grew up in Colchester in the 1990s and now lives in Brightlingsea, wants to help foodbanks by showing people how the organisations can be supported in the run-up to Christmas.

He is now hoping his 55,000-strong Twitter following will help him spread the word about Foodbank Day, which will be on Wednesday, November 30.

He said: “I came up with this idea about two weeks ago, and the main reason was because I have been reading articles about how foodbank donations are really down and usage is really up.

“I know a number of people really struggling and I wanted to bring an awareness about it – not to keep the focus on donating money, because a lot of people don’t have it – but to do something which builds awareness in the run-up to Christmas."

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At a time when the public’s wherewithal is diminishing and the demand for foodbanks is increasing, Mr Baum, 43, said he felt compelled share how foodbanks can be helped.

“The price of everything is going up, so I thought about building a really simple campaign – a lot of people don’t know where their foodbank is, what it might need, or how to get involved in volunteering.”

Mr Baum is therefore hoping on November 30, he will get the hashtag #foodbanknov30 trending on Twitter so people can see on social media how easy it can be do support their nearest foodbank.

He said: “People feel a sense of shame or worry and a lot of people might know what foodbanks are, but not where they are and how they can help them.

“November is just before the Christmas season – if there’s a way to get lots of people giving items, then foodbanks will be better stocked to help people when they most need it.

“In the run-up, we will run a number of Twitter storms, and on the day try and get as much exposure as possible and really encourage people to give to their foodbank.”