Demand for foodbank soars by 75 per cent
Second charity hands out 350 parcels daily
East Kilbride Community foodbank say they too have seen the number of service users rocket during lockdown.
From the end of May to July, they handed out 4000 bags of food – a 75 per cent increase when compared to the same four months last year.
That’s just 3000 bags short of their usual 7000 annual total, with volunteers handing out up to 350 parcels a week at the height of the pandemic.
And Thomas McNeil from the charity – run by a partnership of local churches – said people who had never used a foodbank before were reaching crisis point.
The associate pastor at Calderwood Baptist Church told the News: “We saw a massive increase in people using it for the first time.
“We maybe have two or three new clients a week normally – in lockdown we saw 210 new users; it was a situation none of us have ever experienced before.
“Some people were on 80 per cent wages and struggling, some didn’t qualify for support or couldn’t get mortgage holidays for example, and there were those whose finances were incredibly tight before furlough.
“We also saw self-employed people, those on zero-hour contacts suddenly on nothing – there were many who were falling between the gaps and turning to us.”
Thanks to some lateral thinking and changes in working processes, the charity remained open during lockdown and were able to get support to those who needed it most.
On top of the 4000 normal emergency parcels of tinned goods, volunteers from the charity also delivered 1650 fresh food parcels to those in desperate need, helping hundreds more families too.
Thomas added: “It must have been incredibly difficult not being able to put food on the table, especially if you have never found yourself in that situation before.
“While we can’t provide a mental health service, our volunteers did go above and beyond phoning people regularly to check how they were doing.
“Sometimes a friendly voice on the end of the phone is all it takes to lift peoples’ spirits.”
Despite just about coping throughout the first lockdown period, Thomas fears the economic downturn caused by the pandemic will continue to put pressure on foodbanks for some time to come.
He added: “I think we will continue to be busier than normal for the foreseeable future.
“People may be laid-off and the Universal Credit system they find themselves in simply doesn’t work – and that’s what they are relying on to survive.
“We just hope East Kilbride isn’t too badly affected by a downturn.”
Thomas thanked all those who donated to the foodbank, including locals, supermarkets and other businesses, adding: “Although we were 75 per cent up, we never ran out of food due to the incredible support we received.”