Dietary Calling

Overview:

Find out from your team leader:

• What day on the app you are calling clients

• What Packing Slot that day you need all clients from

• What postcodes you are calling

Navigate to the correct date on the Parcels Page using the date boxes.

Find clients that have No Status.

Open client details to get their phone number.

• tip: add the Phone Number column to the parcels page:

  • Press "More" in the search box field

  • Press Select Columns

  • Tick: Phone Number

Ring the client.

If they answer the phone:

• If you don't already have the Client Details open, click the client's name to open the info box.

• Press Edit Client details.

• Confirm/update the client's details (home address, family size etc).

• Update dietary info.

• Submit form.

• Change status to Called & Confirmed.

If they don't answer the phone:

• Change status to Called & No Response.

Guidance for Making Dietary Calls to Foodbank Clients

Before you call

• You will be added to a WhatsApp group chat before your first session that gives you access to the team of dietary callers, plus your Dietary Caller Manager. 

• Open the foodbankapp (lambeth.foodbankapp.org). You will see the Parcels page.

• Check you have selected the correct date range at the top of the app.

• Check list of clients and “last status” which will tell you which clients need contacting. Message on the WhatsApp group to confirm which Dietary Caller will call which clients, in case more than one caller is volunteering at once (e.g. working according to postcodes, working from the top of the list down, bottom of the list up (meet in the middle).) This is to avoid callers calling the same clients at the same time, or shortly afterwards.

• Check whether the client is on for a delivery or collection (look for the ‘feet’ or ‘van’ icon next to their postcode).

• Click on the client’s name - if collecting, take note of the Foodbank Centre hub (see Method at the end of these notes) and date.

• Click on "Edit Client Details” at the bottom of the parcel details box, which will allow you to edit the client details.

• To edit Client Name, Address, Ages, Dietary Info etc – this is done in Edit Client Details.

• If you need to edit the Parcel Date or Collection/Delivery Method, this is done in Edit Parcel.

If they answer the call

General information 

• Tell them you are calling from “Lambeth Foodbank”. You will be calling a mixture of clients in Lambeth, Croydon and some peripheral areas. I tend to say ‘This is the Foodbank and we have a referral to pack a parcel for you this week’.

Personal details

• Confirm their address - If the address is missing either a street number (i.e. it just says Flat 4, Ridge House, but no road) or missing a flat number (i.e. just says 111 London Road), edit necessary details. If there is no flat number please check if the client lives in a flat otherwise the driver will not be able to make the delivery. It’s very important to verify every household’s address details. The best way to do this is to ask them to confirm their address including how to get there.  Some clients live on very confusing housing estates with addresses which are very hard to find. You cannot put down too much information on the sheet about this for our drivers. 

• Confirm household size and ages (birth year and month for children, just birth year for adults and gender). This is very important as we put different toiletries in for boys and girls and pack different food for a toddler or a teenager. (Children are anyone under 16 years of age). 

• Again, the best way to do this is to ask them to confirm how many people are in the household. Check that this correlates with the details on their referral. If the information is different, tell them you will need to check this and call them back. Please then message the Data Entry person with details who will look into this for you. It is they who upload the referrals for us (check Guidelines document on Assemble for this).

• Ask the client what cooking facilities they have and tick the relevant options (if you don’t do this it will appear on the packing list as having no cooking facilities). This will help the packing team choose what type of food to put into a food parcel (food that can be cooked in a microwave or by kettle). You can change the parcel type from a Regular List to a Hotel List, which will tailor the food to people with no cooking facilities at all.

Requirements 

• Confirm the dietary requirements using the tick boxes. A tick means yes they want it, no tick means that they do not want it.

• Check if they would like tea or coffee (not both), pasta or rice or both. We can offer brown rice and brown pasta, if asked (put a note of this in the extra information).  Clients may ask for hot chocolate instead. In winter, we do have supplies of this so please note it in the extra information.

• If female, ask them if they want pads or tampons or both. If there are teenage girls in the house, please ask if they would like additional pads for them too.

• Bladder Control pads – clients will generally tell you if they want these. These are different from pads and tampons and are supplied to men and women if required and if in stock. The most sensitive way to deal with this is to ask if they want pads of any type (pads, tampons or bladder control).

• Check if they have any other dietary requirements, allergies or food they don’t like. A tick in the box means that they are gluten free, dairy free or have a nut allergy, left blank means that they do not.

• Some accommodation for personal taste can be catered to but it very much depends on what we have in stock at the warehouse.

• Although every effort is made to avoid foods that clients are allergic to, the responsibility is on them to check the food parcel carefully when it arrives.

• Also check if they need any toiletries, and what is required. Be clear - it is a choice between one of these: Shower gel, shampoo, or toothpaste. We also do have some shaving stuff and deodorant.

• We may also have cleaning materials available, but these are often in very short supply. 

• Clients may also ask for other non-standard items like sugar, mayonnaise or ketchup, decaffeinated tea or herbal tea, which we can provide if we have it. But don’t ask them if they want it, as we never have that much of it, and we want to manage expectations about what we can and cannot provide by not giving the impression that we can personalise the food box excessively. We do sometimes have yam, sweet potato and condensed milk if the client asks for it.

• We may also have some household items such as plates, kettles, tin openers, microwaves etc. Some clients have just been rehoused into accommodation and have nothing. If a client expresses a need, please tell them we will see if there’s anything we can do and note this in the extra information section.

• Note, when recording these preferences please do make sure it is clear what the client would or wouldn’t like. Ideally put a note in the extra information “no pasta” or “no bread” or “no tea or coffee” even though the box has not been ticked – that way it will be really clear on the packing information sheet that it is not wanted (and so not packed wastefully).  

• If there are any children under two years old, check if they need any nappies, wipes, baby food, baby formula etc., and write details in “extra information”.  Please note we cannot guarantee to supply any certain brands of baby milk but we will try to. We have  limited range of bed wetting pull up pants for older children and occasionally we have baking items to make birthday cakes etc if requested or they mention that a child’s birthday is coming up. Please do not bring this up yourself, however, as we only have very limited stock. 

• If they indicate that they do have pets and want pet food, please ask if it is a cat or dog, how many, and what size dog (puppy, small, medium or large) so we can adjust the amount and type of food supplied accordingly. (We do occasionally have some supplies for other pets too e.g. rabbits, hamsters, bird seed, cat toys).

Delivery Timeslots

If delivery:

• Explain we will be delivering food to them.

• AM lists are delivered the same day – this will be any time between 11am to 6pm. 

• PM lists are delivered the day after the packing date any time from 11am to 6pm.

• Note: On Wednesdays there is only packing in the PM, so the delivery will always be the next day. On Fridays there is only packing until 1pm so all food parcels go out that day.

• Check if they have any times when they are not available. Do not confirm very restrictive timings. If they do, they will need an alternative delivery day. We can leave parcels in a “safe place”. Occasionally we can leave them with neighbours or at designated shops below flats etc if requested by clients but not on doorsteps or in porches. This information goes in the delivery instructions. 

• Please make a note if they are going to be out on a school run or a medical appointment and the drivers will try as far as possible to accommodate that, but nothing can be guaranteed. This information goes in the delivery instructions. 

• Explain that when the driver arrives, or when they are on their way, they may call from a withheld number. Ask if they can meet the driver and help carry the boxes or not.

Delivery instructions

• Confirm they have a working bell/buzzer and that someone can come down to collect the food when the driver arrives. 

• You also need to ask about parking restrictions and whether there are any LTNs. This is very important as many drivers have recently had parking tickets and fines.

• Once you have put all the information into the client page, press “submit” then return to the foodbankapp Parcel Page, select the parcel (using the tick box on the left) and change the status to “Called and Confirmed”.

If collecting from a Hub/ Centre

• Explain that we’re asking them to come and collect, let them know which date and hub/ centre they’re collecting from.

• Explain to the client that there will be bags to carry, ensure that they are physically capable of doing this, or can bring someone to help.

• It is important to encourage those able-bodied to collect their parcel from a local hub.

• Let them know the opening times of the hub and the contact number (found at the bottom of this page).

• If the client asks how to get there, you can look up the route between their postcode and the Foodbank address via google maps. Flag on the WhatsApp group chat and someone can text the client the information.

• If the client legitimately cannot collect, check if they’re available for delivery instead and change their confirmation.

Client Page Extra Information / Notes

• The “Extra Information” text box is printed on the Shopping List in the warehouse for packers, so this is where you would notes such as “would like brown rice”. Do not put information here that is client sensitive or not useful for the packing team, such as Voicemail notes.

• The “Notes” text box is only visible on the app and would be used for notes such as “Voicemail left on the 23/2 – do not put notes here that the packers might need to know.

Flag for Attention

When you tick Flag for Attention, a red flag icon appears next to the client’s parcel. This will alert the Dispatch Manager in the warehouse that this client has specific delivery instructions. For example, if someone is only home at certain times, needs a delivery to an alternative address, or has sensitive information (i.e. domestic violence).

Signposting call

Please ask the client whether they would like a call back from someone to discuss any other support that might be available to them. This can be anything from help with filling in forms for benefits, rent arrears, fuel voucher or obtaining baby clothes and supplies. Make sure the box is ticked either yes or no, and tick the appropriate box for what they need help with.

Confidentiality

It is really important that we maintain client confidentiality so when noting down that someone wants a signposting call, please keep the information brief and private e.g. “sp re rent” (signposting call about rent arrears) or “sp re pip” (signposting call about filling in the form for an application for universal credit). If they say domestic violence is an issue you can note “DV”.

Should a client become abusive or angry, please do not note this down on the extra information as this will mean that it goes onto the packing sheet and thus is not confidential. Put these notes in the ‘Notes box’ which is only visible on the app. Or put a message about it to the Dietary Caller Manager directly via WhatsApp.

If they don’t answer the phone

• If possible, please leave a message, please give the ‘Foodbank office’ number (check Guidelines document on Assemble for this) and ask them to select option 1.

• If you are leaving voice messages or text messages, you need to be clear in your message that we need confirmation from them before we pack their food parcel.

• Please leave a dated note in: “Edit Client Details” > “Notes”, to say that you have left a voicemail and if you gave a number to call back.

• If there is no voicemail, please note this in the “Edit Client Details” > “Notes”,

• Once all your notes are input, press submit at the bottom of the page and then return to the foodbankapp Parcels Page.

• Select the tick box to the left of the client's name and change the status to “called and no response” unless there was a problem with the number and you are flagging this with the referrals team, in which case mark it “pending more info” and move them to the nearest ‘Saturday’ date.

• If you are calling back a client who previously didn’t respond and they don’t respond again, please mark as “called and no response” again, as it’s helpful for us to know how many times a client has been called, without a response. If you leave second or third messages etc., please also record those in the notes.

• If there is another issue with the number, i.e. the phone is unavailable, wrong number, digit missing, please make a note of this in “Edit Client Details” > “Notes”, Please change the status to “pending” and move the parcel to the next ‘Saturdays’ date.

• Remember, to change the date of the parcel, click the parcel and click “Edit Parcel” (not “Edit Client”).

Safeguarding

We refer you to our Safeguarding policy which is on the documents hub of our Assemble database and which you have access to through your profile.

Fortunately, this is an issue that very rarely comes up. However, if you are concerned about a client’s physical wellbeing (e.g. they tell you they have taken an overdose, they are in immediate physical danger from themselves or someone else) attempt to get their consent to inform the police and then hang up and dial 999. It may be that due to the circumstances, you are unable to obtain their consent and that the threat is such that you do so without their consent. Please then immediately inform Mona Boateng via WhatsApp. 

If the concern does not require immediate intervention (for example, you are concerned about someone’s mental health but they are not in immediate danger) please notify the Dietary Caller Manager by WhatsApp and then email our Safeguarding Officer, (check Guidelines document on Assemble for this).

Dealing with aggressive clients

No volunteer should have to experience an abusive phone call. If you are dealing with an aggressive client over the phone, please firmly let them know that this is not acceptable behaviour. If they continue, please end the call and message the Dietary Caller Manager  privately via WhatsApp. 

Other important information

• If someone’s information has changed drastically, for example someone has moved to an address outside our delivery area (any postcodes beginning E, N or W are a definite no!) please note this on the app, but also message the Data Entry person (check Guidelines document on Assemble for this).

• If someone says they don’t want their food, already had food recently or similar, please leave a note in “Notes” and change the status to “delivery cancelled” on the app, but please also message the Data Entry person as they will flag with the referral agency.

• If someone does not speak English, or you cannot make yourself understood, please terminate the call and message the Dietary Caller Manager directly about this via WhatsApp. 

• Please note that the app is sometimes slow to update with status or information you have loaded up onto it. Please be patient and it will refresh and update in due course. Press the refresh button on your browser to make sure you are looking at the most up to date information.

• You can go back into the client’s details and edit it if needs be.

• Each call should take between 3 to 5 minutes, with some calls taking a bit longer for a variety of reasons. If a call is taking too long regarding signposting issues, please tell them that someone will call them back and make a note about a signposting call.

Guide to the statuses on the app

Relevant to callers

• No status (blank) = The client needs to be called.

• Called and no response = We couldn’t get through, but the client should be called again.

• Called and confirmed = We have got all the information we need and we’re ready to pack the parcel.

• Pending more info = This client has been flagged with a referrals team, as there is some kind of problem with their contact details, and we need more information to proceed.

• Delivery cancelled = the person doesn’t want their parcel anymore, has moved out of area, or for another reason we will not be delivering.

Not relevant to callers

• Request denied - for management staff use only.

• Ready to dispatch, delivery failed, delivered, print driver overview - for management/driver staff only.

• Fulfilled with Trussell - data entry team only.

• Shopping list printed and shipping label printed - warehouse team only.

Foodbank Hubs