Food banks in desperate appeal for help as donations run dry

By Lachlan Leeming, Local Democracy Reporter

Food banks which feed hundreds of South-east London families on the edge of poverty have made a desperate appeal for help, as the government lockdown to combat coronavirus sees the flow of donations to charities dry to a trickle.

Food banks in Bromley have made desperate appeals for donations as demand for their services swell, as thousands of workers in the borough find themselves without work as businesses shut down due to restrictions ushered in to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The sudden increase in use, combined with the government lockdown restricting movement and limits on food items set by supermarkets to combat hoarding, has seen donations to the charities plummet.

It has led to the banks making urgent pleas for supplies to the public.

Last week saw Bromley food bank appeal for residents to continue to make donations, while on Monday Living Well Bromley joined in after announcing it had run out of tinned vegetables and meats.

Rebecca Day, the administrator at Living Well Bromley, said restrictions on the number of food items residents could buy had led to a drop in donations.

While the food bank had appealed to supermarkets to drop the restrictions, they had been unsuccessful so far.

“People are still donating, but not in the same numbers,” she said, adding that understandably many shoppers were keeping extra items for themselves.

She said they usually gave out 200 bags of food a week, but that since the coronavirus outbreak there had been a large increase in the number of young families using the bank.

With the bank about to start a home delivery service as well, any donations would be greatly welcomed, Ms Day said.

She also extended a warm thank you to new volunteers who had leapt forward to help – saying it was “really fantastic to see people come together”.

The charity said donations can be brought to the food bank on Tuesdays from 11am until 1pm at the Holy Trinity Church.

Likewise, Bromley food bank urged residents to do whatever they can by donating to local supermarket collection banks.

The bank said donations could still be made to its base at the former Adventure Kingdom Building at Stockwell Close, as well as its collection boxes at the Waitrose at Green Street Green, Sainsbury’s at Orpington, Locksbottom, Petts Wood, West Wickham (Station Road), and Chislehurst, and Tesco at Orpington and Bromley.