New data shows stark scale of food poverty across Fermanagh
FOOD poverty is present in almost every village and town in County Fermanagh, it can be revealed. New data from March, 2023 through to March, 2024, show that Enniskillen Foodbank has given away thousands of parcels to hungry people in Fermanagh and parts of Tyrone.
The data is not inclusive of food parcels given to people via other agencies such as charities and groups, and instead accounts for those who physically visit Enniskillen Foodbank and its pop-ups in Newtownbutler, Irvinestown and Belleek.
The information is also not inclusive of hampers given out at Christmas.
The data shows that the ward where the most people were fed using parcels from Enniskillen Foodbank was Portora, with 389 people receiving food from the foodbank, including 166 children.
The ward of Irvinestown shows that 372 people were fed from food bank parcels, including 101 children.
Over in the ward of Newtownbutler, 269 people have been fed so far this year, with 60 of those who received support being children.
The Erne ward in Enniskillen received food for 249 people in the past year, 66 of whom are children.
Looking at the ward for Ederney and Kesh, 220 people received support from Enniskillen Foodbank.
It is one of several areas where children comprise the bulk of people using the food bank, with 131 children (60.84 per cent) using the service.
A similar pattern was seen in the Rossorry ward, where a total of 154 people received food bank parcels, including 101 children.
In the Belleek and Boa ward, 154 people have received parcels from the food bank over the past year, including 53 children.
There were also 154 people in the Boho, Cleenish and Letterbreen ward, and the Castle Coole ward, who received food bank parcels, with 74 children fed from those parcels in Boho, Cleenish and Letterbreen, while 70 children were fed from those parcels in Castle Coole.
Across in the Derrygonnelly ward, 124 people received food bank parcels, including 25 children.
Some 116 people received food bank parcels in the Ballinamallard ward, including 19 children.
In the Belcoo and Garrison ward, 110 people received food bank parcels, including ten children. In Rosslea ward, 104 people received food bank parcels, including 39 children.
Looking at Lisbellaw and Lisnaskea, 74 people in each ward received food bank parcels, including 30 children in Lisbellaw, and 40 children in Lisnaskea.
In the Maguirebridge ward, 62 people received food bank parcels, with more than half of those being children (34).
In the Lisnarick ward, 59 people received food parcels, including 15 children.
A largely similar figure was seen in the Tempo ward, where 58 people received food bank parcels, including 24 children.
Next, the Derrylin ward saw more than half of those receiving food bank parcels being children, with 29 children supported out of a total of 51 people.
In the Brookborough ward, 19 people received food bank parcels, including six children.
In the Donagh ward, 15 adults received food bank parcels.
Looking at the Florence Court and Kinawley ward, 14 people received food bank parcels, including four children.
Those from outside of Fermanagh travelled to avail of support from the Enniskillen Foodbank, with 32 people from the Fivemiletown ward receiving food bank parcels, and exactly half of those supported so far this year being children (16).
In the Augher and Clogher ward, 19 people were supported by Enniskillen Foodbank, including 12 children who received food bank parcels.
In Trillick ward, five people received food bank parcels from Enniskillen Foodbank.
Next, the Coolagard ward, outside Omagh, saw four people receiving food bank parcels, including two children, and in the Dromore ward, two people received food from the food bank.
Worryingly, 111 people who received food bank parcels are registered to no fixed address, including 40 children.
In addition, 22 people in need from an unknown location were supported by Enniskillen Foodbank.
In addition to the 3,202 parcels detailed in this report, to date, 3,600 parcels have been provided by Enniskillen Foodbank to give to service users of 79 other agencies that support people of all ages.