Food banks struggle for donations as demand rises

Worcester food bank said it had helped nearly 1,000 people in September, a 46% rise on the same month in 2020

A food bank said it is running low on donations as demand is rising due to the pandemic and people's financial worries.

Worcester food bank said it gave food parcels to 987 people in September, a rise of 46% on the same month in 2020.

Goff O'Dowd, from the charity, said they were running short on 40 items including pasta and tinned fruit.

He said some people were desperate for help with not enough money to pay their energy bills.

The charity estimates they need 50 tonnes of food to get through until Christmas and are currently receiving about eight tonnes a month.

Volunteers at Hereford food bank said they were having to source items like paste themselves when supermarkets ran out of stock

One woman, who did not want to give her name, said she had come for donations to the Worcester Food Bank for her son who felt embarrassed at needing help from a food bank.

"With being unemployed and not well enough to work he does depend. He is just one of those which would rather not eat than face the embarrassment of getting help from the food bank," she said.

She added the end of the Universal Credit uplift would affect her son as "you can do such a lot with £20, it is not luxury, not a luxury to be warm, and to eat and not feel hungry".

The government said it had been clear the uplift was a "temporary" measure.

A spokesman added higher wages, rather than taxpayer-funded benefit rises, would be the better option as the country emerges from Covid restrictions.

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Jacqui Alsop, from the Hereford food bank, said they were also struggling to get donations with rising demand for their aid.

She said the charity was spending about £1,000 a month on fresh vegetables and they have to source items like pasta when supermarkets run out of stock.

"I am quite concerned that that one extra tin that [people] could be putting in, there is not the availability in the shops for them to do that," she said.