The reality of relying on Food banks

Since 2011 at the Gospel Centre Food bank we have been serving and getting to know many people in need of a food bank. Previous to March 2019 people had to rely on a referral to visit, and many still came with one after. Since the start of COVID-19 we of course had no such requirements. The increase to 400 recipients a month has been exponential and included many families.

Behind these statistics are individuals lives, both long term and newer visitors. As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report  file: https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/destitution-uk-2020

says 'there are now 2 million people in poverty in the U.K'. It reports half have chronic health issues, though just 20% with addiction and mental health issues. The reasons for poverty are many, but include the long wait to claim Universal Credit, the move to receiving once a month, less being covered by Housing benefit  and existing debts and loan repayments. Though the One stop shops at Wood Green and Marcus Garvey libraries remain open other sources of support are increasingly online. A good one to try if you are assisting others is Turn2us https://www.turn2us.org.uk/  . Many of our visitors do not have access to the internet.

So receiving a food bag is known to help someone for 3-4 days. However, it does potentially give the person a little leeway to choose what to spend what they would have done otherwise on this food. Of course some have no choice and depend on friends as well.

So, if you are able we would be very grateful for donations of the following goods; Tinned meat, standard packets of rice, cereals, coffee, dried foods and tinned vegetables (not peas).

Many thanks