Demand for emergency food supplies at Bethnal Green Foodbank ballooned 14 times over during lockdown. Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, visited the food bank at St Matthew’s Church on Wednesday (2nd September) to discuss the pressures its volunteers have been under in recent months. During the visit, he heard from the Rector of St Matthew’s Church, Reverend Erin Clark, how its number of recipients sharply increased from 60 per month in January to 200 per week in the lockdown period.
Reverend Clark told Mr Desai of the significant degree of generosity and support given to the food bank by members of the community and volunteers, many of whom are furloughed workers.
However, she also outlined the financial pressures that the food bank is under after Government funding support ran out. This comes despite extra donations from local supermarkets and community groups.
In addition, Reverend Clark discussed St. Matthew’s plans to tackle the causes of food poverty, by expanding its scheme to offer legal advice to its clients.
The latest end of year stats from the Trussell Trust, which cover the twelve-month period up to March 2020, show that during this time, over 200,000 emergency three-day food parcels were handed out to Londoners.
Local London Assembly Member, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“Reverend Clark and her team of hardworking volunteers have managed to reach huge numbers of local people in need under significant pressure.
“Whilst we can only admire these vital efforts, the emergence of independent food banks is a symptom of the fact that the Government has outsourced its duty of care to the most vulnerable to the charity sector.
“We can be very proud of the fact that our community has stepped in to donate supplies and their time to ensure local families do not go hungry.
“I would like to echo Reverend Clark’s calls for this integral support to continue to grow, especially as we confront a potential second wave in the winter”.
Erin Clark, Rector of St. Matthew’s Church, said:
“The Bethnal Green Foodbank has had a rollercoaster of a first year, but we’re proud to have stayed true to our goal. Our goal is to provide emergency food support to those who need it most, of whom there are a growing number in Bethnal Green.
“We focus our work on the local area, building relationships with clients, volunteers and donors that will, we hope, lead to more creative work that can address the causes of food poverty and other issues of social deprivation adjacent to it.
“Finding funding to keep our stock room full is notoriously hard, so we’re always looking community partners to help raise our profile, so we can support as many folks as possible in this critical time and beyond.”
Notes to editors
- Bethnal Green Foodbank opened in January 2020, as a sister project to the Bow Foodbank. It is open for donations and collection twice weekly, every Wednesday between 6-8pm, and collection and deliveries only on Fridays from 10am-12pm.The food bank’s website specifies that the following items are in need: tinned meat soups, stews, curries, chilis and meat pies, cooking sauces, tinned fish, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, and other beans, rice, peanut butter and jam, babies’ and kids’ food. More information about Bethnal Green Foodbank can be found here;
- The latest end of year stats from the Trussell Trust can be found here;
- Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City and East (covering Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and the City of London).