Foodbank calls on Coventry to keep donating after demand doubled over Christmas
Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:45 am
The foodbank gave out almost 700 packages the week before Christmas, double what they were expecting
Coventry Foodbank need people to keep up the generous donations after facing their busiest ever Christmas.
Almost double the amount of emergency food packages were given out in the week leading to Christmas than expected this year, showing that demand for the service is still increasing.
The organisation operates at 16 locations around the city as well as their main distribution hub on Progress Way in Binley.
The foodbank is the largest in the UK and one of the busiest services in the Trussell Trust charity’s UK network.
Project manager Hugh McNeill told the Telegraph: “The four weeks leading up to Christmas this year were the busiest we have seen and the week before Christmas was the busiest we have ever had.
“Normally we would expect to see around 350 people during the week but we actually think we doubled that at nearly 700.
“At the Foleshill base on Wednesday (20 December) we saw 126 people and almost 100 at the Queens Road Baptist church the next day.
“That snapshot alone shows just how many people turned up. That’s the busiest run up to Christmas we’ve seen in the seven years we’ve been running.”
The foodbank’s partnership with West Midlands Fire Service, now in it’s 4th year, meant that users could still access supplies during the Christmas period.
Coventry’s four fire stations stocked emergency food boxes so that anyone in desperate need would be able to pick one up while the foodbank was closed.
Despite receiving an overwhelming number of donations this year, Hugh stressed that support from the public is vital all year round.
“We have had an amazing response,” he said. “People in Coventry are incredibly supportive. We had around 18 or 19 tonnes of food donated to us in December which is just incredible.
“But we are currently using around two tonnes of food a week so we are going to need a lot of support in the new year.
“At the moment we are in a good position because our stocks are good but they will disappear.
“We rely on what people donate to us, it’s really important. If we don’t get donations we really struggle.
“We are very confident that the support from the general public will keep coming. Without them we couldn’t do what we do.”
In November Coventry Foodbank marked a bittersweet milestone when it served its 100,000th user.
Government austerity measures, benefits reforms and low wages have all been blamed for creating a demand for the service.
We can expect another surge in demand next month when so-called 'Universal Credit' is rolled out in Coventry replacing several out-of-work and in-work benefits.
