King’s Lynn Foodbank is reporting a surge in demands for help, especially involving children, and they are appealing for more volunteers.
New figures released recently by King’s Lynn Foodbank have revealed that 2764 emergency food parcels were provided to 6526 people facing hardship across King’s Lynn and West Norfolk in the last year – with over a third of these parcels going to children.
The Foodbank has seen a 46% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year. This is the most parcels they have ever provided. The levels of need were particularly acute in winter, and December was the busiest month for the Foodbank, with 315 emergency food parcels provided by staff and volunteers that month.
Helen Gilbert, Project Manager at King’s Lynn Foodbank said: “The last 12 months have been exceptionally busy with many local people struggling with the soaring costs of utilities and food which has meant that demand has been outstripping donations. Everyone should be able to afford the essentials, but more and more people are simply unable to make ends meet. We need more volunteers to help at our Distribution Centre to handle the increasing number of people requiring help from the Foodbank.”
King’s Lynn Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust’s network, which reports record levels of need in the last 12 months with almost 3 million (2,986,203) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023. More than a million of these parcels were provided for children.
Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “King’s Lynn Foodbank was set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency; It is not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that foodbanks should not need to exist. The staff and volunteers at King’s Lynn Foodbank are working tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available, but the current situation is not one they can solve alone.”
To help ensure that everyone has the income they need to afford the essentials, the Trussell Trust has joined with Joseph Rowntree Foundation in urging the UK government to embed in law an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ that would make sure Universal Credit payments always, at a minimum, provide enough to the cover cost of essentials such as food, utilities and vital household goods. You can read more here.
For more information on how to support King’s Lynn foodbank, visit their website for an up to date list of items needed, or information on how to donate financially.
King’s Lynn Foodbank Project Manager can be reached on [email protected] or on 07930 512284.
Tony Rothe, 18/05/2023
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