People come in anxious and upset and go away feeling relieved that a burden has been lifted
HOW YOUR FOOD DONATION COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS CHRISTMAS
NOBODY wants to have to use a food bank. The idea of not being able to provide a meal for your family, especially over Christmas, is unthinkable for those people who are lucky enough to have enough.
Sadly, the demand for food banks is at an all-time high and the people running them rely on donations to continue helping people.
The Tesco Food Collection, the UK’s biggest charity food collection, is calling on pre-Christmas shoppers to donate long-life food to support the work of charity partners the Trussell Trust and FareShare, which help people who can’t easily afford to feed themselves. The collection runs for three days until 23 November.
Last year, thanks to the generosity of Tesco shoppers, the charities received more than 3.5 million meals’ worth of food during the collection. But this year they hope to exceed last year’s target. Once again, Tesco will be topping up the value of the customer donations by an additional 20 per cent to help the charities carry out this vital work.
Food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network help to provide emergency food to individuals and families in crisis, while FareShare uses the longlife food to supplement donations of surplus food to charities and community groups, including homeless shelters, children’s breakfast clubs and domestic violence refuges, so they can create nutritious meals for those unable to provide for themselves easily. The Trussell Trust – which has 1,200 centres in its network – also campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
Circumstances can change quickly and those who work in food banks and know that people turn to them for a variety of different reasons. “We have lots of different types of people that come to us,” said Julie Baker, project manager at Hinckley Area Foodbank in Leicestershire. “We have had a family with a two-day-old baby and a 96-year-old woman living in sheltered housing.”
According to the Trussell Trust’s research, the average weekly income of people at food banks is only £50 after paying rent, and almost one in five has no money coming in at all the month before being referred for emergency food. Almost three-quarters of people using food banks live in
People needing to use our food bank often tell me they can’t believe so many people in their area have donated
households affected by ill-health or disability.
But, whatever the reasons for needing help, taking that first step through the door of a food bank is never easy for anyone. “It is difficult for people to come over the threshold and ask strangers for food,” said Julie. “We are someone’s last port of call.”
The Hinckley food bank started in 2012 with four centres and now has eight across the area, providing 120 food parcels to people every week. However, like all the food banks in the network, its work is totally dependent on donations from the community. "People forced to use our food bank often tell me they can’t believe so many other people in their area have donated,” said Julie. “People come in anxious and upset and go away feeling relieved that a burden has been lifted from their shoulders for a few days. They know that people care.”