‘We just don’t know what is about to happen’: Foodbank calls for urgent support
A food bank that faces a 100 per cent increase in demand is urgently calling for funds and support ahead of winter.
The Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank has launched an Emergency Food Appeal, aiming to raise £10,000 to buy food where demand exceeds donations.
Phil Storey, 51, chief executive of Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank, said: “Our donations are really strong but the pressure we’re facing is coming from the increased demand.”
Currently feeding 2,000 individuals and families each month compared to 1,000 last year, Mr Storey said the food bank was struggling to cope with demand in the area.
About 35 per cent of the people the food bank feeds are children.
Mr Storey said: “There is a big increase in the number of people needing to use our foodbank repeatedly.
“A lot are in a short-term crisis – a lot of people are on really low income – but there has been a definite move towards people who are working and still need to come here.”
Mr Storey said the foodbank now pays for 80 per cent of its food supplies, compared to the 20 per cent last year.
In 2022 the difference between the amount of food coming into the foodbank through donations compared to the amount it supplied was less than a tonne-and-a-half each month. This year the difference is up to seven tonnes a month .
Hammersmith and Fulham food bank also provides other services to people in need, including advice, counselling, art therapy and employment support.
Mr Storey said: “We see different stories every day. Last year when it got to Christmas, numbers went through the roof.
“People had held on as long as they could but they were at the end and many felt broken.
“Any organisation doubling demand is stretched in every way. Now we’re going into winter and as things get colder people will be making really tough choices about whether they will heat their homes, turn on their lights or feed their families.
“We just don’t know what’s about to happen. That’s the scariest thing.”
(Pictured top: Volunteers at Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank Picture: The Trussell Trust)