Food donations dry up
During this year we have seen most of our donations from the public dry up... We have increased our spend per month five-fold during the year
JULIET SAUNDERS, OF FEEDING FAMILIES
IN BLAYDON
FOODBANKS are spending thousands on groceries to plug gaps as donations dry up due to the cost-of-living crisis.
The Trussell Trust, which runs a network of foodbanks in the UK, including many in the North East, has highlighted the issues facing their volunteers as families find they can no longer afford to donate as their budgets become more stretched.
“Our supporters continue to generously donate so our network can continue supporting people facing hardship, but these donations are not currently keeping pace with increased need,” a spokesperson said.
“This means that foodbanks are having to purchase food and other essentials to supplement what would usually be provided by donations. With the rising cost of food, this will place an increased financial toll on individual foodbanks.”
In one poll of 600 foodbanks and community causes conducted by the donation platform Neighbourly, nearly 79% reported a drop in donations.
This is echoed buy two charities in the region that are finding
times hard as households struggle to make ends meet. Sam Gilchrist, of the independent West Northumberland Foodbank, said although her service was not part of the Trussell Trust, the struggle was familiar. “We buy in fresh food like a lot of foodbanks have to these days,” she said.
“We bought in around 23% of all the stock we needed to deliver 7,300 food parcels in the last 12 months, and this included £5,600 on fresh food – mainly fruit, veg, bread and eggs.
“We also issued £4,100 worth of shopping vouchers so people can buy their own fresh food at supermarkets and at some local independent grocers and butchers.”
Earlier this month, UK grocery inflation hit another record high of 13.9%, according to the latest data from market research firm Kantar, and the average weekly grocery shop in the UK has risen to £5,265 a year, or £101.25 a week, an increase of £645 a year.
And the lack of donations has coincided with an increase in demand, with the Trussell Trust providing more than two million parcels over a 12-month period – the highest number since the pandemic.
“The sharp rise in the cost of energy, food and other essentials,
alongside the £20 cut to Universal Credit in October 2021, has meant that between April 2021 and March 2022, foodbanks in the Trussell Trust network provided more than 2.1 million parcels to people facing financial hardship,” said the spokesperson.
“As the cost of living continues to soar, foodbank managers in our network are warning of an accelerated crisis across the UK, with more families being forced to the doors of foodbanks in need of emergency food.”
Juliet Saunders, who founded the charity Feeding Families in Blaydon, said: “This is certainly our experience, although we have always spent some money to top up food donations. During this year we have seen most of our donations from the public dry up so it’s required more budget to buy in what we need.
“We have increased our spend per month five-fold during the year. Our output has doubled and with increases in food prices and the donation drop it has been a difficult situation.”
Juliet, who recently won the Community Champion award at the Woman of the Year ceremony, said: “We hear from other foodbanks that they are facing the same challenges. We are not unique however, because we don’t receive regular supplies from supermarkets, our deficit is worse. We now rely on fundraising and grants to plug the gap.”
Foodbanks will also need to meet the rising costs of energy and fuel bills that keep warehouses, vehicles and distribution centres running.
If you want to donate to a foodbank, the best way to start is to ask the foodbank which items it needs. The Trussell Trust has reported an increase in demand for ‘cold parcels’ or food that does not need to be cooked, but different areas may have different needs.