Demand for Foyle Food Bank 'almost a horror story'

Food banks offer help to families and individuals in need

A Londonderry food bank has reported a 310% increase in demand for food in the five years since it first launched.

Foyle Food Bank chairman Denis McGowan told the BBC's Talkback programme that the service supplied food to a total of 15,580 people during 2021.

In 2016, the year the service first launched, it supplied a total of 3,800 people.

"It's almost a horror story about what's happening out there," Mr McGowan said.

"For one year, we supplied food to almost the same number as we did for the first three years of our existence."

Mr McGowan said the total number of people seeking help in December 2021 alone was 2,221.

'Broken the camel's back'

The food bank's chairman said the underlying reasons people needed help included low incomes, benefits changes and benefits delays.

He said debt and sickness were also "big problems".

"The pandemic has broken the camel's back as well as the cost of living," Mr McGowan added.

He said there used to be a limited number of three visits in six months, but this had been removed due to the pandemic.

Sinéad Campbell, head of money, debt and quality at Advice NI, also told Talkback that the cost of living had risen so much in the past few months that wages and benefits were quite often not enough to even cover the basics.

"The pandemic has really increased peoples mental health, addictions as well as gambling and relationship break-ups," she said.

"People are facing redundancies and bereavements and all of this can impact on their finances."