Increasing demand for foodbank services led to winter support donation

By Helen Raven , Senior Community Manager at East of England Co-op

Working closely with our 25 local supported foodbanks over the years, we've seen first-hand how demand for their services has grown and the impact this has had on them; the need for larger premises, more volunteers, increased call for donations.

In November, the Trussell Trust, which supports 8 foodbanks we collect for in our stores, reported that nationally 1.3million emergency food parcels were provided to people between April and September this year by foodbanks in their network and almost half a million of these went to children.

According to the Trust, that's a third more than were provided during the same period in 2021 - an increase of more than 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels. As people struggle to survive in the face of growing living costs the charity, which supports more than 1,300 foodbank centres, says the cost-of-living emergency has created a 'tsunami of need'.

In October we held our second foodbank workshop of the year, inviting representatives from our supported foodbanks to come together to discuss the issues they're facing, share ideas and talk about what we can do to support them.

It's really important for us to understand the pressures on the foodbanks we support so we can adapt the appeals we're making and ensure that we and our members and customer are helping them in the best way possible.

It was clear from the session that foodbanks in our region were also reporting an increase in demand with the number of larger families and new users - people who have never needed a foodbank before - growing.

In Essex, Clacton foodbank reported that usage of their service had doubled from September last year to the same time this year.

Waveney foodbank, which serves a largely rural area reported that they were now opening at weekends to accommodate the increasing number of families and working people needing their support.

All our supported foodbanks who attended the session felt the increase in demand would only get worse over the winter.

That's why this year we've redirected ￡100,000 of our marketing budget to keeping people in the region fed and warm by supporting foodbanks and warm hubs.

The donation of ￡30,000 to our supported foodbanks will be made over three months in the form of vouchers which will be added to food parcels so their clients can buy additional items such as groceries, electric and gas top-ups in our stores.

"As the nights draw in and it's getting colder, more families need help from our foodbank than at any other time in our 14-year history..."

Henry Wilson from Reach Haverhill foodbank commented: "As the nights draw in and it's getting colder, more families need help from our foodbank than at any other time in our 14-year history. We have already fed more children in 2022 than in any other year and we still have 6 weeks to go. Therefore, the very generous donation of vouchers for food and heating is incredibly welcome. We value the dignity that vouchers afford people, giving them far more choice and empowering families who find themselves facing a financial crisis and hardship."

In 2020, we launched the Foodbank Donation Gift Card. The card can be purchased in store and then be given as a gift at Christmas with 100% of the ￡5 purchase price going to local foodbanks. The card contains a message of thanks for helping local people in crisis.

Our customers are being encouraged to support however they can either by purchasing the Foodbank Donation Gift Card for someone, making a donation at the till point either by cash or card or donating groceries at collection points in-store.

In these increasingly difficult times for everyone, we're continuously bowled over by the generosity shown by our members and customers to supporting the foodbanks we work with.

We will be holding another workshop with our foodbanks in February to plan for the spring and summer.