Cov food hub’s plea for donations as shelves empty
SIGNIFICANT DROP IN DONATIONS AS COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS DEEPENS
A COVENTRY food hub is warning that its shelves are emptying even as the cost of living crisis deepens.
Cheylesmore Food Hub supplies bags of food, worth about £20, for £5 a week.
The hub supplies food packages to about 90 people each week. Yet the community food hub says a drop in donations have dropped significantly.
The service provides help to residents of Cheylesmore, Whitley, Stonehouse Estate and Earlsdon. Now it has launched a doorstep drive to try to fill up the shelves.
Founder Caroline Sinclair said: “We want to make it really easy for people to donate,” said Caroline.
“Donations have really, really dropped, and we know things are going to get tougher for everyone.” The organisation has helped hundreds of people since it was set up in 2020.
It has also teamed up with Coventry
City Council to help distribute food as part of the Household Support Fund and activity packs during the school holidays.
And through a partnership with Fareshare, Aubrey Allen and a couple of Asda stores, they have saved “tonnes” of food from going to waste - which is also helping the planet. Caroline said demand has gone up for food that does not need oven cooking. This is due to the rising cost of energy. One man made this very clear to her recently. “Normally with people I see their eyes light up, as there’s a good selection of stuff in there,” she told the BBC. “[But] one man picked up a pizza and just looked at me, as if I had really insulted him, and he explained that he didn’t have an oven.
“People can’t afford to put their oven on, so we’ve tried to keep a really good supply of stuff like instant noodles, instant pasta and instant mash that you can just make with boiled water, just so people have something to keep them going throughout the day.”
For more on the hub and making donations, visit their Facebook page.
Donations have really, really dropped, and we know things are going to get tougher for everyone Founder Caroline Sinclair